Talbot  Mundy The Ivory Trail (fiscle part-IV) 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 1 
 Green, Ah Greener Than Emeralds Are, Tree-Tops Beckon The 
         Dhows To Land, 
 White, Oh Whiter Than Diamonds Are, Blue Waves Burst On The 
         Amber Sand, 
 And Nothing Is Fairer Than Zanzibar From The Isles O' The West 
         To The Marquesand. 
   
   
         I Was Old When The World Was Wild With Youth 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 2 
         (All Love Was Lawless Then!) 
         Since 'Venture'S Birth From Ends Of Earth 
         I Ha' Called the Sons Of Men, 
         And Their Women Have Wept The Ages Out 
         In travail Sore To Know 
         What Lure Of Opiate Art Can Leach 
         Along Bare Seas From Reef To Beach 
         Until From Port And River Reach 
         The Fever'D Captains Go. 
   
   
 Red, Oh Redder Than Red lips Are, My Flowers Nod In the Blazing 
         Noon, 
 Blue, Oh Bluer Than Maidens' Eyes, Are The Breasts O' My Waves 
         In the Young Monsoon, 
 And There Are Cloves To Smell, And Musk, And Lemon Trees, And 
         Cinnamon. 
   
   
 --------- 
 *The Words "Njo Hapa" In the Kiswahili Tongue Are The Equivalent Of 
 "Come Hither!" 
 --------- 
   
   
 Estimates Of Ease And Affluence Vary With The Point Of View. While His 
 Older Brother Lived, Monty Had Continued in his Element, A Cavalry 
 Officer, His Combined income And Pay Ample For All That The Bombay Side 
 Of India Might Require Of An English Gentleman.  They Say That A Finer 
 Polo Player, A Steadier Shot On Foot At A Tiger, Or A Bolder Squadron 
 Leader Never Lived. 
   
   
 But To Monty'S Infinite Disgust His Brother Died childless.  It Is 
 Divulging No Secret That The Income That Passed with The Title Varied 
 Between Five And Seven Thousand Pounds A Year, According as Coal Was 
 High, And Tenants Prosperous Or Not--A Mere Miserable Pittance, Of 
 Course, For The Earl Of Montdidier And Kirkudbrightshire;  So That All 
 His Ventures, And Therefore Ours, Had One Avowed end--Shekels Enough To 
 Lift The Mortgages From His Estates. 
   
   
 Five Generations Of Soldiers Had Blazed the Montdidier Fame On 
 Battle-Grounds, To A Nation'S (And Why Not The Whole Earth'S) Benefit, 
 Without Replenishing The Family Funds, And Monty (Himself A Confirmed 
 And Convinced bachelor) Was Minded when His Own Time Should Come To 
 Pass The Title Along To The Next In line Together With Sufficient Funds 
 To Support Its Dignity. 
   
   
 To Us--Even To Yerkes, Familiar With United states Merchant Kings--He 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 3 
 Seemed with His Thirty Thousand Dollars A Year Already A Gilded 
 Croesus.  He Had Ample To Travel On, And Finance Prospecting Trips.  We 
 Never Lacked for Working Capital, But The Quest (And, Including Yerkes, 
 We Were As Keen As He) Led us Into Strange Places. 
   
   
 So Behold Him--A Privy Councilor Of England If You Please--Lounging In 
 The Lazaretto Of Zanzibar, Clothed only In slippers, Underwear And A 
 Long Blue Dressing-Gown.  We Three Others Were Dressed the Same, And 
 Because It Smacked of Official Restraint We Objected noisily;  But 
 Monty Did Not Seem To Mind Much. He Was Rather Bored, But Unresentful. 
   
   
 A French Steamer Had Put Us Ashore In quarantine, With The Grim Word 
 Cholera Against Us, And Although Our Tale Of Suffering and Monty'S 
 Rank, Insured us A Friendly Reception, The Port Health Authorities 
 Elected to Be Strict And We Were Given A Nice Long Lazy Time In which 
 To Cool Our Heels And Order New Clothes.  (Guns, Kit, Tents, And All 
 But What We Stood In had Gone To The Bottom With The German Cholera 
 Ship From Whose Life-Boat The French Had Rescued us.) 
   
   
 "Keeping Us All This Time In this Place, Is Sheer Tyranny!" Grumbled 
 Yerkes. "If Any One Wants My Opinion, They'Re Afraid We'D Talk If They 
 Let Us Out--More Afraid Of Offending Germans Than They Are Of Cholera! 
 Besides--Any Fool Could Know By Now We'Re Not Sick!" 
   
   
 "There Might Be Something In that," Admitted monty. 
   
   
 "I'D Send For The U. S. Consul And Sing The Song Out Loud, But For 
 You!" Yerkes Added. 
   
   
 Monty Nodded sympathetically. 
   
   
 "Dashed good Of You, Will, And All That Sort Of Thing." 
   
   
 "You English Are So Everlastingly Afraid Of Seeming To Start Trouble, 
 You'Ll Swallow Anything Rather Than Talk!" 
   
   
 "As A Government, Perhaps Yes," Admitted monty.  "As A People, I Fancy 
 Not.  As A People We Vary." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 4 
 "You Vary In that Respect As Much As Sardines In a Can!  I Traveled 
 Once All The Way From London To Glasgow Alone In one Compartment With 
 An Englishman.  Talk?  My, We Were Garrulous!  I Offered him A 
 Newspaper, Cigarettes, Matches, Remarks On The Weather Suited to His 
 Brand Of Intelligence--(That'S Your Sole National Topic Of Talk Between 
 Strangers!)--And All He Ever Said To Me Was 'Haw-Ah!'  I'Ll Bet He Was 
 Afraid Of Seeming To Start Trouble!" 
   
   
 "He Didn'T Start Any, Did He?" Asked monty. 
   
   
 "Pretty Nearly He Did!  I All But Bashed him Over The Bean With The 
 Newspaper The Third Time He Said 'Haw-Ah!'" 
   
   
 Monty Laughed.  Fred oakes Was Busy Across The Room With His Most 
 Amazing Gift Of Tongues, Splicing Together Half-A-Dozen Of Them In 
 Order To Talk With The Old Lazaretto Attendant, So He Heard Nothing; 
 Otherwise There Would Have Been Argument. 
   
   
 "Then It Would Have Been You, Not He Who Started trouble,"' Said I, And 
 Yerkes Threw Both Hands Up In a Gesture Of Despair. 
   
   
 "Even You'Re Afraid Of Starting Something!"  He Stared at Both Of Us 
 With An Almost Startled expression, As If He Could Not Believe His Own 
 Verdict, Yet Could Not Get Away From It.  "Else You'D Give The 
 Bundesrath Story To The Papers!  That German Skipper'S Conduct Ought To 
 Be Bruited round The World!  You Said You'D Do It.  You Promised us! 
 You Told The Man To His Face You Would!" 
   
   
 "Now," Said Monty, "You'Ve Touched on Another National Habit." 
   
   
 "Which One?" Yerkes Demanded. 
   
   
 "Dislike Of Telling Tales Out Of School.  The Man'S Dead.  His Ship'S 
 At The Bottom.  The Tale'S Ended.  What'S The Use?  Besides--?" 
   
   
 "Ah!  You'Ve Another Reason!  Spill It!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 5 
 "As A Privy Councilor, Y'Know, And All That Sort Of Thing--?" 
   
   
 "Same Story!  Afraid Of Starting Something!" 
   
   
 "The Germans--'Specially Their Navy Men--Drink To What They Call Der 
 Tag Y'Know--The Day When They Shall Dare Try To Tackle England.  We All 
 Know That.  They'Re Planning War, Twenty Years From Now Perhaps, That 
 Shall Give Them All Our Colonies As Well As India And Egypt.  They'Re 
 So Keen On It They Can'T Keep From Bragging.  Great Britain, On The 
 Other Hand, Hasn'T The Slightest Intention Of Fighting If War Can Be 
 Avoided;  So Why Do Anything Meanwhile To Increase The Tension?  Why 
 Send Broadcast A Story That Would Only Arouse International Hatred? 
 That'S Their Method.  Ours--I Mean Our Government'S--Is To Give Hatred 
 A Chance To Die Down.  If Our Papers Got Hold Of The Bundesrath Story 
 They'D Make A Deuce Of A Noise, Of Course." 
   
   
 "If Your Government'S So Sure Germany Is Planning War," Objected 
 Yerkes, "Why On Earth Not Force War, And Feed them Full Of It Before 
 They'Re Ready" 
   
   
 "Counsel Of Perfection," Laughed monty.  "Government'S Responsible To 
 The Common--Commons To The People--People Want Peace And Plenty.  No. 
 Your Guess Was Good.  We Are In here While The Government At Home 
 Squares The Newspaper Men." 
   
   
 "You Don'T Mean To Tell Me Your British Government Controls The Press?" 
   
   
 "Hardly.  Seeing 'Em--Putting It Up To 'Em Straight--Asking 'Em 
 Politely.  They'Re Public-Spirited, Y'Know.  Hitting 'Em With A Club 
 Would Be Another Thing.  It'S An Easy-Going Nation, But Kings Have Been 
 Sorry They Tried force.  Did You Never Hear Of A King Who Used force 
 Against American Colonies?" 
   
   
 "Good God!  So They Keep You--An Earl--A Privy Councilor--A Retired 
 Colonel Of Regulars In good Standing--Under Lock And Key In this 
 Pest-House While They Bribe The Press Not To Tell The Truth About Some 
 Germans And Start Trouble?" 
   
   
 "Not Exactly" Said Monty. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 6 
 "But Here You Are!" 
   
   
 "I Preferred to Remain With My Party." 
   
   
 "You Moan They'D Have Let You Out And Kept Us In?" 
   
   
 "They'D Have Phrased it Differently, But That'S About What It Would 
 Have Amounted to.  I Have Privileges." 
   
   
 "Well, I'M Jiggered!" 
   
   
 "I Rather Suspect It'S Not So Bad As That," Said Monty.  "You'Re With 
 Friends In quarantine, Will!" 
   
   
 For A Quarantine Station In the Tropics It Was After All Not Such A Bad 
 Place.  We Could Hear The Crooning Of Lazy Rollers On The Beach, And 
 What Little Sea-Breeze Moved at All Came In to Us Through Iron-Barred 
 Windows.  The Walls Were Of Coral, Three Feet Thick.  So Was The Roof. 
 The Wet Red-Tiled floor Made At Least An Impression Of Coolness, And 
 The Fresh Green Foliage Of An Enormous Mango Tree, While It Obstructed 
 Most Of The View, Suggested anything But Durance Vile.  From Not Very 
 Far Away The Aromatic Smell Of A Clove Warehouse Located us, Not 
 Disagreeably, At The Farther End Of One Of Sindbad'S Journeys, And The 
 Birds In the Mango Branches Cried and Were Colorful With Hues And Notes 
 Of Merry Extravagance.  Zanzibar Is No Parson'S Paradise--Nor The 
 Center Of Much High Society.  It Reeks Of Unsavory History As Well As 
 Of Spices.  But It Has Its Charms, And The Arabs Love It. 
   
   
 It Had Fred oakes So Interested that He Had Forgotten His 
 Concertina--His One Possession Saved from Shipwreck, For Which He Had 
 Offered to Fight The Whole Of Zanzibar One-Handed rather Than Have It 
 Burned. 
   
   
 ("Damnation! It Has Silver Reeds--It'S An English Top-Hole One--A 
 Wonder!") 
   
   
 So The Doctors Who Are Kind Men In the Main Disinfected it Twice, Once 
 On The French Liner That Picked us Out Of The Bundesrath'S Boat, And 
 Again In zanzibar;  And With The Stench Of Lord-Knew-What Zealous 
 Chemical Upon It He Had Let It Lie Unused while He Picked up Kiswahili 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 7 
 And Talked by The Hour To A Toothless, Wrinkled very Black Man With A 
 Touch Of Arab In his Breeding, And A Deal Of It In his Brimstone 
 Vocabulary. 
   
   
 Presently Fred came Over And Joined us, Dancing across The Wide Red 
 Floor With The Skirts Of His Gown Outspread Like A Ballet 
 Dancer'S--Ridiculous And Perfectly Aware Of It. 
   
   
 "Monty, You'Re Rich!  We'Re All Made Men!  We'Re All Rich!  Let'S Spend 
 Money!  Let'S Send For Catalogues And Order Things!" 
   
   
 Monty Declined to Take Fire.  It Was I, Latest To Join The Partnership 
 And Much The Least Affluent, Who Bit. 
   
   
 "If You Love The Lord, Explain!" Said I. 
   
   
 "This Old One-Eyed lazaretto Attendant Is An Ex-Slave, Ex-Accomplice Of 
 Tippoo Tib!" 
   
   
 "And Tippoo Tib?" I Asked. 
   
   
 "Ignorant Fo'Castle Outcast!"  (All That Because I Had Made One Voyage 
 As Foremast Hand, And Deserted rather Than Submit To More Of It.) 
 "Tippoo Tib Is The Arab--Is, Mind You, My Son, Not Was--The Arab Who 
 Was Made Governor Of Half The Congo By H. M. Stanley And The Rest Of 
 'Em.  Tippoo Tib Is The Expert Who Used to Bring The Slave Caravans To 
 Zanzibar--Bring 'Em, Send 'Em, Send For 'Em--He Owned 'Em Anyway. 
 Tippoo Tib Was The Biggest Ivory Hunter And Trader Lived since Old King 
 Solomon!  Tippoo Tib Is Here--In Zanzibar--To All Intents And Purposes 
 A Prisoner On Parole--Old As The Hills--Getting Ready To Die--And Proud 
 As The Very Ace Of Hell.  So Says One-Eye!" 
   
   
 "So We'Re All Rich?" Suggested monty. 
   
   
 "Of Course We Are!  Listen!  The British Government Took Tippoo'S 
 Slaves Away And Busted his Business.  Made Him Come And Live In this 
 Place, Go To Church On Sundays, And Be Good.  Then They Asked him What 
 He'D Done With His Ivory.  Asked him Politely After Putting Him Through 
 That Mill!  One-Eye Here Says Tippoo Had A Million Tusks--A 
 Million!--Safely Buried!  Government Offered him Ten Per Cent. Of Their 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 8 
 Cash Value If He'D Tell 'Em Where, And The Old Sport Spat In their 
 Faces!  Swears He'Ll Die With The Secret!  One-Eye Vows Tippoo Is The 
 Only One Who Knows.  There Were Others, But Tippoo Shot Or Poisoned 
 'Em." 
   
   
 "So We'Re Rich," Smiled yerkes. 
   
   
 "Of Course We Are!  Consider This, America, And Tell Me If Standard Oil 
 Can Beat It!  One Million Tusks I I'M Told--" 
   
   
 "By Whom?" 
   
   
 "One-Eye Says--" 
   
   
 "You'Ll Say 'Oh!' At Me To A Different Tune, Before I'Ve Done!  One-Eye 
 Says It Never Paid To Carry A Tusk Weighing Less Than Sixty Pounds. 
 Some Tusks Weigh Two Hundred--Some Even More--Took Four Men To Carry 
 Some Of 'Em!  Call It An Average Weight Of One Hundred pounds And Be On 
 The Safe Side." 
   
   
 "Yes, Let'S Play Safe," Agreed monty Seriously. 
   
   
 "One Hundred million Pounds Of Ivory!" Said Fred, With A Smack Of His 
 Lips And The Air Of A Man Who Could See The Whole Of It.  "The Present 
 Market Price Of New Ivory Is Over Ten Shillings A Pound On The Spot. 
 That'Ll All Be Very Old Stuff, Worth At Least Double.  But Let'S Say 
 Ten Shillings A Pound And Be On The Safe Side." 
   
   
 "Yes, Let'S!" Laughed yerkes. 
   
   
 "One Thousand Million--A Billion Shillings!" Fred announced.  "Fifty 
 Million Pounds!" 
   
   
 "Two Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars!" Yerkes Calculated, Beginning 
 To Take Serious Notice. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 9 
 "But How Are We To Find It?" I Objected. 
   
   
 "That'S The Point.  Government 'Ud Hog The Lot, But Has Hunted high And 
 Low And Can'T Find It.  So The Offer Stands Ten Per Cent. To Any One 
 Who Does--Ten Per Cent. Of Fifty Million--Lowest Reckoning, Mind 
 You!--Five Million Pounds!  Half For Monty--Two And A Half Million.  A 
 Million For Yerkes, A Million For Me, And A Half A Million For You All 
 According To Contract!  How D'You Like It?" 
   
   
 "Well Enough," I Answered. "If Its Only The Hundredth Part True, I'M 
 Enthusiastic!" 
   
   
 "So Now Suit Yourselves!" Said Fred, Collapsing With A Sweep Of His 
 Skirts Into The Nearest Chair.  "I'Ve Told You What One-Eye Says. 
 These Dusky Gents Sometimes Exaggerate Of Course--" 
   
   
 "Now And Then," Admitted monty. 
   
   
 "But Where There'S Smoke You Mean There'S Prob'Ly Some One Smoking 
 Hams?" Suggested yerkes. 
   
   
 "I Mean, Let'S Find That Ivory!" Said Fred. 
   
   
 "We Might Do Worse Than Make An Inquiry Or Two," Monty Assented 
 Cautiously. 
   
   
 "Didums, You Damned fool, You'Re Growing Old!  You'Re Wasting Time! 
 You'Re Trying To Damp Enthusiasm!  You'Re--You'Re--" 
   
   
 "Interested, Fred.  I'M Interested.  Let'S--" 
   
   
 "Let'S Find That Ivory And To Hell With Caution!  Why, Man Alive, It'S 
 The Chance Of A Million Lifetimes!" 
   
   
 "Well, Then," Said Monty, "Admitting The Story'S True For The Sake Of 
 Argument, How Do You Propose To Get On The Track Of The Secret?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 10 
 "Get On It?  I Am On It!  Didn'T One-Eye Say Tippoo Tib Is Alive And In 
 Zanzibar?  The Old Rascal!  Many A Slave He'S Done To Death!  Many A 
 Man Be'S Tortured!  I Propose We Catch Tippoo Tib, Hide Him, And Pull 
 Out His Toe-Nails One By One Until Be Blows The Gaff!" 
   
   
 (To Hear Fred talk When There Is Nothing To Do But Talk A Stranger 
 Might Arrive At Many False Conclusions.) 
   
   
 "If There'S Any Truth In the Story At All," Said Monty, "Government 
 Will Have Done Everything Within The Bounds Of Decency To Coax The 
 Facts From Tippoo Tib.  I Suspect We'D Have To Take Our Chance And 
 Simply Hunt.  But Let'S Hear Juma'S Story." 
   
   
 So The Old Attendant Left Off Sprinkling Water From A Yellow Jar, And 
 Came And Stood Before Us.  Fred'S Proposal Of Tweaking Toe-Nails Would 
 Not Have Been Practical In his Case, For He Had None Left.  His Black 
 Legs, Visible Because He Had Tucked his One Long Garment Up About His 
 Waist, Were A Mass Of Scars.  He Was Lean, Angular, Yet Peculiarly 
 Straight Considering His Years.  As He Stood Before Us He Let His 
 Shirt-Like Garment Drop, And The Change From Scarecrow To Deferential 
 Servant Was Instantaneous.  He Was So Wrinkled, And The Wrinkles Were 
 So Deep, That One Scarcely Noticed his Sightless Eye, Almost Hidden 
 Among A Nest Of Creases; And In spite Of The Wrinkles, His Polished, 
 Shaven Head Made Him Look Ridiculously Youthful Because One Expected 
 Gray Hair And There Was None. 
   
   
 "Ask Him How He Lost His Toe-Nails, Fred," Said I. 
   
   
 But The Old Man Knew Enough English To Answer For Himself.  He Made A 
 Wry Grimace And Showed his Hands.  The Finger-Nails Were Gone Too. 
   
   
 "Tell Us Your Story, Juma," Said Monty. 
   
   
 "Tell 'Em About The Pembe--The Ivory--The Much Ivory--The Meengi 
 Pembe," Echoed fred. 
   
   
 "Let'S Hear About Those Nails Of His First," Said I. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 11 
 "One Thing'Ll Prob'Ly Lead To Another," Yerkes Agreed. "Start Him On 
 The Toe-Nail Story." 
   
   
 But It Did Not Lead Very Far.  Fred, Who Had Picked up Kiswahili Enough 
 To Piece Out The Old Man'S Broken English, Drew Him Out And Clarified 
 The Tale.  But It Only Went To Prove That Others Besides Ourselves Had 
 Beard Of Tippoo Tib'S Hoard.  Some White Man--We Could Not Make Bead Or 
 Tail Of The Name, But It Sounded rather Like Somebody Belonging To A 
 Man Named carpets--Had Trapped him A Few Years Before And Put Him To 
 Torture In the Belief That Be Knew The Secret. 
   
   
 "But Me Not Knowing Nothing!" He Assured us Solemnly, Shaking His Head 
 Again And Again. 
   
   
 But He Was Not In the Least Squeamish About Telling Us That Tippoo Tib 
 Had Surely Buried huge Quantities Of Ivory, And Had Caused to Be Slain 
 Afterward Every One Who Shared the Secret. 
   
   
 "How Long Ago?" Asked monty.  But Natives Of That Part Of The Earth Are 
 Poor Hands At Reckoning Time. 
   
   
 "Long Time," He Assured us.  He Might Have Meant Six Years, Or Sixty. 
 It Would Have Been All The Same To Him. 
   
   
 "No.  Me Not Liking Tippoo Tib.  One Time His Slave.  That Bad.  Byumby 
 Set Free.  That Good.  Now Working Here.  This Very Good." 
   
   
 "Where Do You Think The Ivory Is?" (This From Yerkes.) 
   
   
 But The Old Man Shook His Head. 
   
   
 "As I Understand It," Said Monty, "Slaves Came Mostly From The Congo 
 Side Of Lake Victoria Nyanza.  Slave And Elephant Country Were 
 Approximately The Same As Regards General Direction, And There Were Two 
 Routes From The Congo--The Southern By Way Of Ujiji On Tanganyika To 
 Bagamoyo On What Is Now The German Coast, And The Other To The North Of 
 Victoria Nyanza Ending at Mombasa. Ask Him, Fred, Which Way The Ivory 
 Used to Come." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 12 
 "Both Ways," Announced juma Without Waiting For Fred to Interpret.  He 
 Had An Uncanny Trick Of Following Conversation, His Intelligence 
 Seeming To Work By Fits And Starts. 
   
   
 "That Gives Us About Half Africa For Hunting-Ground, And A Job For 
 Life!" Laughed yerkes. 
   
   
 "Might Have A Worse!" Fred answered, Resentful Of Cold Water Thrown On 
 His Discovery. 
   
   
 "Were You Tippoo Tib'S Slave When He Buried the Ivory?" Demanded monty, 
 And The Old Man Nodded. 
   
   
 "Where Were You At The Time?" 
   
   
 Juma Made A Gesture Intended to Suggest Immeasurable Distances Toward 
 The West, And The Name Of The Place He Mentioned was One We Had Never 
 Heard Of. 
   
   
 "Can You Take Us To Tippoo Tib When We Leave This Place?" I Asked, And 
 Be Nodded again. 
   
   
 "How Much Ivory Do You Suppose There Was?" Asked yerkes. 
   
   
 "Teli, Teli!" He Answered, Shaking His Head. 
   
   
 "Too Much!" Fred translated. 
   
   
 "Pretty Fair To Middling Vague," Said Yerkes, 
 "But"--Judicially--"Almost Worth Investigating!" 
   
   
 "Investigating?" Fred sprang From His Chair.  "It'S Better Than All 
 King Solomon'S Mines, El Dorado, Golconda, And Sindbad The Sailor'S 
 Treasure Lands--Rolled in one!  It'S An Obviously Good Thing!  All We 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 13 
 Need is A Bit Of Luck And The Ivory'S Ours!" 
   
   
 "I'Ll Sell You My Share Now For A Thousand Dollars--Come--Come Across!" 
 Grinned yerkes. 
   
   
 There Was A Rough-House After That.  He And Fred nearly Pulled the Old 
 Attendant In two, Each Claiming The Right To Torture Him First And 
 Learn The Secret.  They Ended up Without A Whole Rag Between Them, And 
 Had To Send Juma To Head-Quarters For New Blue Dressing-Gowns.  The 
 Doctor Came Himself--A Fat Good-Natured party With An Eye-Glass And A 
 Cocktail Appetite, Acting Locum-Tenens For The Real Official Who Was 
 Home On Leave.  He Brought The Ingredients For Cocktails With Him. 
   
   
 "Yes," He Said, Shaking The Mixer With A Sort Of Deft Solicitude. 
 "There'S More Than Something In the Tale.  I'Ve Had A Try Myself To Get 
 Details.  Tippoo Tib Believes In up-To-Date Physic, And When The Old 
 Rascal'S Sick He Sends For Me.  I Offered to Mix Him An Elixir Of Life 
 That Would Make Him Out-Live Methuselah If He'D Give Me As Much As A 
 Hint Of The General Direction Of His Cache." 
   
   
 "He Ought To Have Fallen For That," Said Yerkes, But The Doctor Shook 
 His Head. 
   
   
 "He'S An Arab.  They'Re Shiah Muhammedans.  Their Paradise Is A 
 Pleasant Place From All Accounts.  He Advised me To Drink My Own 
 Elixir, And Have Lots And Lots Of Years In which To Find The Ivory, 
 Without Being Beholden To Him For Help.  Wily Old Scaramouch!  But I 
 Had A Better Card Up My Sleeve.  He Has Taken To Discarding ancient 
 Prejudices--Doesn'T Drink Or Anything Like That, But Treats His Harem 
 Almost Humanly.  Lets 'Em Have Anything That Costs Him Nothing.  Even 
 Sends For A Medico When They'Re Sick!  Getting Lax In his Old Age! 
 Sent For Me A While Ago To Attend His Favorite Wife--Sixty Years Old If 
 She'S A Day, And As Proud Of Him As If He Were The King Of Jerusalem. 
 Well--I Looked her Over, Judged she Was Likely To Keep Her Bed, And Did 
 Some Thinking." 
   
   
 "You Know Their Religious Law?  A Woman Can'T Go To Paradise Without 
 Special Intercession, Mainly Vicarious.  I Found A Mullah--That'S A 
 Muhammedan Priest--Who'D Do Anything For Half Of Nothing.  They Most Of 
 Them Will.  I Gave Him Fifty Dibs, And Promised him More If The Trick 
 Worked.  Then I Told The Old Woman She Was Going To Die, But That If 
 She'D Tell Me The Secret Of Tippoo Tib'S Ivory I Had A Mullah Handy Who 
 Would Pass Her Into Paradise Ahead Of Her Old Man.  What Did She Do? 
 She Called tippoo Tib, And He Turned me Out Of The House.  So I'M Fifty 
 Out Of Pocket, And What'S Worse, The Old Girl Didn'T Die--Got Right Up 
 Out Of Bed and Stayed up!  My Rep'S All Smashed to Pieces Among The 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 15 
 Arabs!" 
   
   
 "D'You Suppose The Old Woman Knew The Secret?" I Asked. 
   
   
 "Not She!  If She'D Known It She'D Have Split!  The One Ambition She 
 Has Left Is To Be With Tippoo Tib In paradise.  But He Can Intercede 
 For Her And Get Her In--Provided he Feels That Way;  So She Rounded on 
 Me In the Hope Of Winning His Special Favor!  But The Old Ruffian Knows 
 Better!  He'Ll No More Pray For Her Than Tell Me Where The Ivory Is! 
 The Koran Tells Him There Are Much Better Houris In paradise, So Why 
 Trouble To Take Along A Toothless Favorite From This World?" 
   
   
 "Has The Government Any Official Information?" Asked monty. 
   
   
 "Quite A Bit, I'M Told.  Official Records Of Vain Searches.  Between 
 You And Me And These Four Walls, About The Only Reason Why They Didn'T 
 Hang The Old Slave-Driving Murderer Was That They'Ve Always Hoped he'D 
 Divulge The Secret Some Day.  But Be Hates The Men Who Broke Him Far 
 Too Bitterly To Enrich Them On Any Terms!  If Any Man Wins The Secret 
 From Him It'Ll Be A Foreigner.  They Tell Me A German Had A Hard Try 
 Once.  One Of Karl Peters' Men." 
   
   
   
 "That'Ll Be Carpets!" Said Monty.  "Somebody Belonging To Carpets--Karl 
 Peters." 
   
   
 "The Man'S Serving a Life Sentence In the Jail For Torturing Our Friend 
 Juma Here." 
   
   
 "Then Juma Knows The Secret?" 
   
   
 "So They Say.  But Juma, Too, Hopes To Go To Paradise And Wait On 
 Tippoo Tib." 
   
   
 "He Told Us Just Now That He Dislikes Tippoo Tib," I Objected. 
   
   
 "So He Does, But That Makes No Difference.  Tippoo Tib Is A Big 
 Chief--Sultani Kubwa--Take Any One He Fancies To Heaven With Him!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 16 
 We All Looked at Juma With A New Respect. 
   
   
 "I Got Juma His Job In here," Said The Doctor.  "I'Ve Rather The Notion 
 Of Getting My Ten Per Cent. On The Value Of That Ivory Some Day!" 
   
   
 "Are There Any People After It Just Now?" Asked monty. 
   
   
 "I Don'T Know, I'M Sure.  There Was A German Named schillingschen, Who 
 Spent A Month In zanzibar And Talked a Lot With Tippoo Tib.  The Old 
 Rascal Might Tell His Secret To Any One He Thought Was England'S Really 
 Dangerous Enemy.  Schillingschen Crossed over To British East If I 
 Remember Rightly.  He Might Be On The Track Of It." 
   
   
 "Tell Us More About Schillingschen," Said Monty. 
   
   
 "He'S One Of Those Orientalists, Who Profess To Know More About Islam 
 Than Christianity--More About Africa And Arabia Than Europe--More About 
 The Occult Than What'S In the Open.  A Man With A Shovel 
 Beard--Stout--Thick-Set--Talks Kiswahili And Arabic And Half A Dozen 
 Other Languages Better Than The Natives Do Themselves.  Has 
 Money--Outfit Like A Prince'S--Everything 
 Imaginable--Rifles--Microscopes--Cigars--Wine.  He Didn'T Make Himself 
 Agreeable Here--Except To The Arabs.  Didn'T Call At The Residency. 
 Some Of Us Asked him To Dinner One Evening, But He Pleaded a Headache. 
 We Were Glad, Because Afterward We Saw Him Eat At The Hotel--Has Ways 
 Of Using His Fingers At Table, Picked up I Suppose From The People He 
 Has Lived among." 
   
   
 "Are You Nearly Ready To Let Us Out Of Here?" Asked monty. 
   
   
 "Your Quarantine'S Up," Said The Doctor.  "I'M Only Waiting For Word 
 From The Office." 
   
   
 We Drank Three Rounds Of Cocktails With Him, After Which He Grew Darkly 
 Friendly And Proposed we Should All Set Out Together In search Of The 
 Hoard. 
   
   
 "I'Ve No Money," He Assured us.  "Nothing But A Knowledge Of The 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 17 
 Natives And A Priceless Thirst.  I'D Have To Throw Up My Practise Here. 
  Of Course I'D Need some Sort Of Guarantee From You Chaps." 
   
   
 The Proposal Falling Flat, Be Gathered the Nearly Empty Bottles Into 
 One Place And Shouted for His Boy To Come And Carry Them Away. 
   
   
 "Think It Over!" He Urged as He Got Up To Leave Us.  "You Might Take A 
 Bigger Fool Than Me With You.  You'D Need a Doctor On A Trip Like That. 
  I'M An Expert On Some Of These Tropical Diseases.  Think It Over!" 
   
   
 "Fred!" Said Monty, As Soon As The Doctor Had Left The Room, "I'M 
 Tempted by This Ivory Of Yours." 
   
   
 But Fred, In the New Blue Dressing-Gown The Doctor Had Brought, Was In 
 Another World--A Land Of Trope And Key And Metaphor.  For The Last Ten 
 Minutes He Had Kept A Stub Of Pencil And A Scrap Of Paper Working, And 
 Now The Strident Tones Of His Too Long Neglected concertina Stirred the 
 Heavy Air And Shocked the Birds Outside To Silence.  The Instrument Was 
 Wheezy, For In addition To The Sacrilege The Port Authorities Had Done 
 By Way Of Disinfection, The Bellows Had Been Wetted when Fred plunged 
 From The Sinking Bundesrath And Swam.  But He Is Not What You Could 
 Call Particular, As Long As A Good Loud Noise Comes Forth That Can Be 
 Jerked and Broken Into Anything Resembling Tune. 
   
   
 "Tempted, Are You?" He Laughed.  He Looked like A Drunken Troubadour En 
 Deshabille, With Those Up-Brushed mustaches And His Usually Neat Brown 
 Beard All Spread Awry.  "Temptation'S More Fun Than Plunder!" 
   
   
 Yerkes Threw An Orange At Him, More By Way Of Recognition Than 
 Remonstrance.  We Had Not Heard Fred sing Since He Tried to Charm 
 Cholera Victims In the Bundesrath'S Fo'Castle, And, Like The Rest Of 
 Us, He Had His Rights.  He Sang With Legs Spread Wide In front Of Him, 
 And Head Thrown Back, And, Each Time Be Came To The Chorus, Kept On 
 Repeating It Until We Joined in. 
   
   
         There'S A Prize That'S Full Familiar From Zanzibar To 
 France; 
         From Tokio To Boston; We Are Paid It In advance. 
         It'S The Wages Of Adventure, And The Wide World Knows The 
         Feel 
         Of The Stuff That Stirs Good Huntsmen All And Brings The 
         Hounds To Heel! 
         It'S The One Reward That'S Gratis And Precedes The 
         Toilsome Task-- 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 18 
         It'S The One Thing always Better Than An Optimist Can 
 Ask! 
         It'S Amusing, It'S Amazing, And It'S Never Twice The 
         Same; 
         It'S The Salt Of True Adventure And The Glamour Of The 
 Game! 
   
   
         Chorus 
         It Is Tem-Tem-Pitation! 
         The One Sublime Sensation! 
         You May Doubt It, But Without It 
         There Would Be No Derring-Do! 
         The Reward The Temptee Cashes 
         Is Too Often Dust And Ashes, 
         But You'Ll Need no Spurs Or Lashes 
         When Temptation Beckons You! 
   
   
         Oh, It Drew The Roman Legions To Old Britain'S Distant 
 Isle, 
         And It Beckoned h. M. Stanley To The Sources Of The Nile; 
         It'S The One And Only Reason For The Bristling Guns At 
 Gib, 
         For The Skeletons At Khartoum, And The Crimes Of Tippoo 
         Tib. 
         The Gentlemen Adventurers Braved torture For Its Sake, 
         It Beckoned out The Galleons, And Filled the Hulls Of 
 Drake! 
         Oh, It Sets The Sails Of Commerce, And It Whets The Edge 
         Of War, 
         It'S The Sole Excuse For Churches, And The Only Cause Of 
         Law! 
   
   
         Chorus 
         It Is Tem-Tem-Pitation! Etc., Etc. 
         No Note Is There Of Failure (That'S A Tune The Croakers 
         Sing!) 
         This Song'S Of Youth, And Strength, And Health, And Time 
         That'S On The Wing! 
         Of Wealth Beyond The Hazy Blue Of Far Horizons Flung-- 
         But Never Of The Folk Returning, Disillusioned, Stung! 
         It'S A Tale Of Gold And Ivory, Of Plunder Out Of Reach, 
         Of Luck That Fell To Other Men, Of Treasure On The 
         Beach-- 
         A Compound, Cross-Reciprocating Two-Way Double Spell, 
         The Low, Sweet Lure To Heaven, And The Tallyho To Hell! 
   
   
         Chorus 
         It Is Tem-Tem-Pitation! 
         The One Sublime Sensation! 
         You May Doubt It, But Without It 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 19 
         There Would Be No Derring-Do! 
         It'S The Siren Of To-Morrow 
         That Knows Naught Of Lack Or Sorrow, 
         So You'Ll Sell Your Bonds And Borrow, 
         When Temptation Beckons You! 
   
   
 Once Fred starts There Is No Stopping Him, Short Of Personal Violence, 
 And He Ran Through His Ever Lengthening List Of Songs, Not All Quite 
 Printable, Until The Very Coral Walls Ached with The Concertina'S 
 Wailing, And Our Throats Were Hoarse From Ridiculous Choruses.  As 
 Yerkes Put It: 
   
   
 "When Pa Says Sing, The Rest Of Us Sing Too Or Go Crazy!" 
   
   
 I Went To The Window And Tried to Get A View Of Shipping Through The 
 Mango Branches.  Masts And Sails--Lateen Spars Particularly--Always Get 
 Me By The Throat And Make Me Happy For A While.  But All I Could See 
 Was A Low Wall Beyond The Little Compound, And Over The Top Of It 
 Headgear Of Nearly All The Kinds There Are.  (Zanzibar Is A Wonderful 
 Market For Second-Hand Clothes.  There Was Even A Tall Silk Hat Of Not 
 Very Ancient Pattern.) 
   
   
 "Come And Look, Monty!" Said !, And He And Yerkes Came And Stood Beside 
 Me.  Seeing His Troubadour Charm Was Broken, Fred snapped the Catch On 
 The Concertina And Came Too. 
   
   
 "Arabian Nights!" He Exclaimed, Thumping Monty On The Back. 
   
   
 "Didums, You Drunkard, We'Re Dead And In another World!  Juma Is The 
 One-Eyed calender!  Look--Fishermen--Houris--How Many Houris?--Seen 'Em 
 Grin!--Soldiers Of Fortune--Merchants--Sailors--By Gad, There'S Sindbad 
 Himself!--And Say!  If That Isn'T The Sultan Haroun-Al-Raschid In 
 Disguise I'M Willing To Eat Beans And Pie For Breakfast To Oblige 
 Yerkes!  Look--Look At The Fat Ruffian'S Stomach And Swagger, Will You?" 
   
   
 Yerkes Sized up The Situation Quickest. 
   
   
 "Sing Him Another Song, Fred.  If We Want To Strike Up Acquaintance 
 With Half Zanzibar, Here'S Our Chance!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 20 
 "Oh, Richard, Oh, My King!" Hummed monty.  "It'S Coeur De Lion And 
 Blondell Over Again With The Harp Reversed." 
   
   
 If Zanzibar May Be Said To Possess Main Thoroughfares, That Window Of 
 Ours Commanded as Much Of One As The Tree And Wall Permitted;  And 
 Music--Even Of A Concertina--Is The Key To The Heart Of All People 
 Whose Hair Is Crisp And Kinky.  Perhaps Rather Owing To The Generosity 
 Of Their Slave Law, And Koran Teachings, More Than To Racial Depravity, 
 There Are Not Very Many Arabs Left In that Part Of The World With True 
 Semitic Features And Straight Hair, Nor Many Woolly-Headed folk Who Are 
 Quite All-Bantu.  There Is Enough Arab Blood In all Of Them To Make 
 Them Bold;  Bantu Enough For Syncopated, Rag-Time Music To Take Them By 
 The Toes And Stir Them.  The Crowd In the Street Grew, And Gathered 
 Until A Policeman In red fez And Khaki Knickerbockers Came And Started 
 Trouble.  He Had A Three-Cornered fight On His Hands, And No Sympathy 
 From Any One, Within Two Minutes.  Then The Man With The Stomach And 
 Swagger--He Whom Fred called haroun-Al-Raschid--Took A Hand In masterly 
 Style.  He Seized the Police-Man From Behind, Flung Him Out Of The 
 Crowd, And Nobody Was Troubled any More By That Official. 
   
   
 "That Him Tippoo Tib'S Nephew!" Said A Voice, And We All Jumped.  We 
 Had Not Noticed juma Come And Stand Beside Us. 
   
   
 "I Suspect Nephew Is A Vague Relationship In these Parts," Said Monty. 
 "Do You Mean Tippoo'S Brother Was That Man'S Father, Juma?" 
   
   
 "No, Bwana.*  Tippoo Tib Bringing Slave Long Ago F'M Bagamoyo.  Him 
 She-Slave Having Chile.  She Becoming Concubine Tippoo Tib His Wife'S 
 Brother.  That Chile Tippoo Tib'S Nephew.  Tea Ready, Bwana." 
   
   
 ----------------- 
 * Bwana, Swahili Word Meaning Master. 
 ----------------- 
   
   
 "What Does That Man Do For A Living?" 
   
   
 "Do For A Living?" Juma Was Bewildered. 
   
   
 "What Does He Work At?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 21 
 "Not Working." 
   
   
 "Never?" 
   
   
 "No. 
   
   
 "Has He Private Means, Then?" 
   
   
 "I Not Understand.  Tea Ready, Bwana!" 
   
   
 "Has He Got Mali*?" Fred demanded. 
   
   
 "Mali?  No.  Him Poor Man." 
   
   
 -------------- 
 *Mali, Swahili Word Meaning Possession, Property. 
 -------------- 
   
   
 "Then How Does He Exist, If He Has No Mali And Doesn'T Work?" 
   
   
 "Oh, One Wife Here, One There, One Other Place, An' 
 Tippoo Tib Byumby Him Giving Food." 
   
   
 "How Many Wives Has He?" 
   
   
 "Tea Ready, Bwana!" 
   
   
 "How Do They Come To Be Spread All Over The Place?" (We Were Shooting 
 Questions At Him One After The Other, And Juma Began To Look As If Be 
 Would Have Preferred a Repetition Of The Toe-Nail Incident.) 
   
   
 "Oh, He Travel Much, An' Byumby Lose All Money, Then Stay Here.  Tea, 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 22 
 Him Growing Cold." 
   
   
 There Is No Persuading The Native Servant Who Has Lived under The Union 
 Jack That An Englishman Does Not Need hot Tea At Frequent Intervals, 
 Even After Three Cocktails In an Afternoon.  So We Trooped to The Table 
 To Oblige Him, And Went Through The Form Of Being Much Refreshed. 
   
   
 "What Is That Man'S Name?" Demanded monty. 
   
   
 "Hassan." 
   
   
 "Do You Know Him?" 
   
   
 "Everybody Know Him!" 
   
   
 "Can You Get A Message To Him?" 
   
   
 "Yes, Bwana." 
   
   
 "Tell Him To Come And Talk With Us At The Hotel As Soon As He Hears We 
 Are Out Of This." 
   
   
 We Did Not Know It At The Time (For I Don'T Think That Monty Guessed it 
 Either) That We Had Taken The Surest Way Of Setting all Zanzibar By The 
 Ears.  In that Last Lingering Stronghold Of Legal Slavery,* Where The 
 Only Stories Judged worth Listening To Are The Very Sources Of The 
 Thousand Nights And A Night, Intrigue Is Not Perhaps The Breath Of 
 Life, But It Is The Salt And Savory.  There Is A Woolly-Headed sultan 
 Who Draws A Guaranteed, Fixed income And Has Nothing Better To Do Than 
 Regale Himself And A Harem With Western Alleged amusement.  There Are 
 Police, And Lights, And Municipal Regulations.  In fact, Zanzibar Has 
 Come On Miserable Times From Certain Points Of View.  But There Remains 
 The Fun Of Listening To All The Rumors Borne By Sea.  "Play On The 
 Flute In zanzibar And Africa As Far As The Lakes Will Dance!" The Arabs 
 Say, And The Gentry Who Once Drove Slaves Or Traded ivory Refuse To 
 Believe That The Day Of Lawlessness Is Gone Forever.  One Rumor Then Is 
 Worth Ten Facts.  Four White Men Singing Behind The Bars Of The 
 Lazaretto, Desiring To Speak With Hassan, "'Nephew" Of Tippoo Tib, And 
 Offering Money For The Introduction, Were Enough To Send Whispers 
 Sizzling Up And Down All The Mazy Streets. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 23 
 ---------------- 
 * Slavery Was Not Absolutely And Finally Abolished in zanzibar Until 
 1906, During Which Year Even The Old Slaves, Hitherto Unwilling To Be 
 Set Free, Had To Be Pensioned off. 
 ---------------- 
   
   
 Our Release From Quarantine Took Place Next Day, And We Went To The 
 Hotel, Where We Were Besieged at Once By Tradesmen, Each Proclaiming 
 Himself The Only Honest Outfitter And "Agent For All Good Export 
 Firms."  Monty Departed to Call On British Officialdom (One Advantage 
 Of Traveling With A Nobleman Being That He Has To Do The Stilted social 
 Stuff). Yerkes Went To Call On The United states Consul, The Same Being 
 Presumably A Part Of His Religion, For He Always Does It, And Almost 
 Always Abuses His Government Afterward.  So Fred and I Were Left To 
 Repel Boarders, And It Came About That We Two Received hassan. 
   
   
 He Entered our Room With A Great Shout Of "Hodi!" (And Fred knew Enough 
 To Say "Karibu!")--A Smart Red fez Set At An Angle On His Shaven Head, 
 His Henna-Stained beard All Newly-Combed--A Garment Like A Night-Shirt 
 Reaching Nearly To His Heels, A Sort Of Vest Of Silk Embroidery 
 Restraining His Stomach'S Tendency To Wobble At Will, And A Fat Smile 
 Decorating The Least Ashamed, Most Obviously Opportunist Face I Ever 
 Saw, Even On A Black Man. 
   
   
 "Jambo, Jambo;"* He Announced, Striding In and Observing Our Lack Of 
 Worldly Goods With One Sweep Of The Eye.  (We Had Not Stocked up Yet 
 With New Things, And Probably He Did Not Know Our Old Ones Were At The 
 Bottom Of The Sea.)  He Was A Lion-Hearted rascal Though, At All Events 
 At The First Rush, For Poverty On The Surface Did Not Trouble Him. 
   
   
 --------------- 
 * Jambo, Good Day. 
 --------------- 
   
   
 "You Send For Me?  You Want A Good Guide?" 
   
   
 The Haroun-Al-Raschid Look Had Disappeared.  Now He Was The 
 Jack-Of-All-Trades, Wondering Which End Of The Jack To Push In first. 
   
   
 "When I Need a Guide I'Ll Get A Licensed one," Said Fred, Sitting Down 
 And Turning Partly Away From Him.  (It Never Pays To Let Those Gentry 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 24 
 Think They Have Impressed you.) "What Is Your Business, Johnson?" 
   
   
 "My Name Hassan, Sah.  You Send For Me?  You Want A Headman.  I'M 
 Formerly Headman For Tippoo Tib, Knowing all Roads, And How To Manage 
 Wapagazi,* Safari,** All Things!" 
   
   
 --------------- 
 * Wapagazi, Plural Of Pagazi, Porter. 
 ** Safari, Journey, And, By Inference, Outfit For A Journey. 
 --------------- 
   
   
 "Any Papers To Prove It?" Asked fred. 
   
   
 "No, Sir.  Reference To Tippoo Tib Himself Sufficient!  He My 
 Part-Uncle." 
   
   
   
 "Ready To Tell Any Kind Of A Lie For You, Eh?" 
   
   
 "No, Sir, Always Telling Truth!  You Got A Cook Yet?" 
   
   
 "Can You Cook?" Fred answered guardedly. 
   
   
 "Yes, Sah.  Was Cook Formerly For Master Stanley, Go With Him On 
 Expedition.  Later His Boy.  Later His Headman.  You Want To Go On 
 Expedition, I Getting You Good Cook.  Where You Want To Go?" 
   
   
 "Are You Looking For A Job?" Asked fred. 
   
   
 "What You After? Ivory?" 
   
   
 "Maybe." 
   
   
 "I Know All About Ivory--I Shoot, Trade Ivory Along O' Tippoo Tib An' 
 Stanley.  You Engage My Services, All Very Well." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 25 
 "Go And Tell Tippoo Tib We Want To See Him.  If He Confirms What You 
 Say, Perhaps We'Ll Take You On," Said Fred. 
   
   
 "Tell Tippoo Tib?  Ha-Ha!  You Want To Find His Buried ivory--That It? 
 All White Men Wanting That!  All Right, I Go Tell Him!  I Come Again!" 
   
   
 "Come Back Here, You Fat Rascal!" Ordered fred.  "What Do You Mean 
 About Buried ivory?  What Buried ivory?" 
   
   
 Hassan'S Face Lost Some Of Its Transcendent Cheek.  Even The Dyed beard 
 Seemed to Wilt. 
   
   
 "What You Wanting?" He Asked.  "Hunt, Trade, Travel--What Your 
 Business?" 
   
   
 "Fish!" Fred answered genially. 
   
   
 "Samaki?" 
   
   
 "Yes--Samaki--Fish!" 
   
   
 Having No Experience Of Arabs, And Part-Arabs, I Wondered what On Earth 
 Fred could Be Driving at.  But Hassan Wondered still More, And That Was 
 The Whole Point.  He Stood Agape, Looking From One To The Other Of Us, 
 His Fat Good-Natured face An Interrogation Mark. 
   
   
 "I Go An' Tell Bwana Tippoo Tib!" He Announced, And Departed swiftly. 
   
   
 "What'S The Idea Of Fish, Fred?" I Asked. 
   
   
 "Oh, Just Curiosity.  The Way Of Getting Information Out Of Colored 
 Folk Is To Get Them So Frantically Curious They'Ve No Time To Think Up 
 Lies.  Tobacco Would Have Done As Well--Anything Unexpected.  A Bird 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 26 
 Flying, And A Black Man Lying,--Are Both Of 'Em Easy To Catch Or 
 Confuse Unless They Know Which Way They'Re Heading.  Let'S Go And Look 
 At The Bazaar." 
   
   
 But In order To Look One Had To Reach.  We Left The Great Heavy-Beamed 
 Hotel That Had Once Been Tippoo Tib'S Residence, But Were Stopped in 
 The Outer Doorway By A Crowd Of Native Boys, Each With A Brass Plate On 
 His Arm. 
   
   
 "Guide, Sah!--Guide, Sah!--My Name 'Mcphairson, Sah!--My Name Jones, 
 Sah!--My Name Johnson, Sah!  Guide To All The Sights, Sah!" 
   
   
 They Were As Persistent And Evilly Intentioned as A Swarm Of Flies, And 
 Bold Enough To Strike Back When Anybody Kicked them.  While We Wrestled 
 And Swore, But Made No Headway, We Were Accosted by A Greek, Who Seemed 
 From Long Experience Able To Pass Through Them Without Striking Or 
 Being Struck.  We Were Not Left In doubt Another Second As To Whether 
 Our Friend Hassan Had Dallied on The Way, And Held His Tongue Or Not. 
   
   
 "Good Day, Gentlemen!  I Hear You Are After Fish!  Hah!  That Is A Good 
 Story To Tell To Arabs!  You Mean Fishing For Information, Eh?  Ha-Hah!" 
   
   
 He Turned on The Swarm Of Boys, Who Still Yelled and Struggled about 
 Our Legs. 
   
   
 "Imshi!* Voetsak!** Enenda Zako!***  Kuma Nina, Wewe!****  In a Minute 
 He Had Them All Scattering, For Only Innocence And Inexperience Attract 
 The Preying Youth Of Zanzibar.  "Now, Gentlemen, My Name Is 
 Coutlass--Georges Coutlass.  Have A Drink With Me, And Let Me Tell You 
 Something." 
   
   
 ----------------- 
 * Imshi (Arabic), Get To Hell Out Of Here! 
 ** Voetsak (Cape Dutch), Ditto. 
 *** Enenda Zako (Kiswahill), Ditto. 
 **** Kuma Nina (Kiswahill). An Opprobrious, And Perhaps The Commonest 
 Expletive In the Language, Amounting To A Request For Details Of The 
 Objurgee'S Female Ancestry.  By No Means For Use In drawing-Rooms. 
 ------------------ 
   
   
 He Was Tall, Dark Skinned, Athletic, And Roguish-Looking Even For The 
 Brand Of Greek One Meets With South Of The Levant--Dressed in khaki, 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 27 
 With An American Cowboy Hat--His Fingers Nearly Black With Cigarette 
 Juice --His Hands Unusually Horny For That Climate--And His Hair 
 Clipped so Short That It Showed the Bumps Of Avarice And Other Things, 
 Said To Reside Below The Hat-Band To The Rear.  Yet A Plausible, 
 Companionable-Seeming Man.  And Zanzibar Confers Democratic Privilege, 
 As Well As Fevers;  Impartiality Hovers In the Atmosphere As Well As 
 Smells, And We Neither Of Us Dreamed of Hesitating, But Followed him 
 Back Into The Bar--A Wide, Low-Ceilinged room Whose Beams Were Two Feet 
 Thick Of Blackened, Polished hard Wood.  There We Sat One Each Side Of 
 Him In cane Armchairs.  He Ordered the Drinks, And Paid For Them. 
   
   
 "First I Will Tell You Who I Am," He Said, When Be Had Swallowed a 
 Foot-Long Whisky Peg And Wiped his Lips With His Coat Sleeve.  "I Never 
 Boast.  I Don'T Need to!  I Am Georges Coutlass!  I Learned that You 
 Have An English Lord Among Your Party, And Said I To Myself  'Aha! 
 There Is A Man Who Will Appreciate Me, Who Am A Citizen Of Three 
 Lands!'  Which Of You Gentlemen Is The Lord?" 
   
   
 "How Can You Be A Citizen Of Three Countries?" Fred countered. 
   
   
 "Of Greece, For I Was Born In greece.  I Have Fought Turks.  Ah!  I 
 Have Bled for Greece.  I Have Spilt My Blood In many Lands, But The 
 Best Was For My Motherland!--Of England, For I Became Naturalized.  By 
 Bloody-Hell-And-Waterloo, But I Admire The English!  They Have Guts, 
 Those English, And I Am One Of Them!  By The Great Horn Spoon, Yes, I 
 Became An Englishman At Bow Street One Monday Morning, Price Five 
 Pounds.  I Was Lined up With The Drunks And Pick-Pockets, And By Jumbo 
 The Magistrate Mistook Me For A Thief! He Would Have Given Me Six 
 Months Without The Option In another Minute, But I Had The Good Luck To 
 Remember How Much Money I Had Paid My Witnesses.  The Thought Of Paying 
 That For Nothing--Worse Than Nothing, For Six Months In jail!--In An 
 English Jail!--Pick Oakum!--Eat Skilly!--That Thought Brought Me To My 
 Senses.  'By Gassharamminy,' I Said, 'I May Be Mad, But I'M Sober!  If 
 It'S A Crime To Desire To Be English, Then Punish Me, But Let Me First 
 Commit The Offense!'  So He Laughed, And Didn'T Question My Witnesses 
 Very Carefully--One Was A Jew, The Other An Ex-German, And Either Of 
 Them Would Swear To Anything at Half Price For A Quantity--And They 
 Kissed the Book And Committed perjury--And Lo And Behold, I Was English 
 As You Are--English Without Troubling a Midwife Or The Parson!  Five 
 Pounds For The 'Beak' At Bow Street--Fifty For The 
 Witnesses--Fifty-Five All Told--And Cheap At The Price!  I Had Money In 
 Those Days.  It Was After Our Short War With Turkey.  We Greeks Got 
 Beaten, But The Turks Did Not Get All The Loot!  By Prison And Gallows, 
 No!  When Our Men Ran Before A Battle, I Did Not Run--Not I!  I 
 Remained, And By Croesus I Grew Richer In an Hour Than I Have Ever Been 
 Since!" 
   
   
 "That'S Two Countries," Said I.  "Which Is The Third That Has The Honor 
 To Claim Your Allegiance?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 28 
 "Honor Is Right!" He Answered with A Proud Smile.  I, Georges Coutlass, 
 Have Honored three Flags!  I Am A Credit To All Three Countries!  The 
 Third Is America--The U. S. A.  You Might Say That Is The Corollary Of 
 Being English--The Natural, Logical, Correct Sequence!  The U. S. Laws 
 Are Strict, But Their Politics Were Devised for--What Is It The 
 Preachers Call It--Ah, Yes, For Straining Out Gnats And Swallowing 
 Camels.  By George Washington They Would Swallow A House On Fire! 
 There Was A Federal Election Shortly Due.  One Of The 
 Parties--Democratic--Republican--I Forget Which--Maybe Both!--Needed 
 New Voters.  The Law Says It Takes Five Years To Become A Citizen. 
 Politics Said Fifteen Minutes!  The Politicians Paid The Fees Too!  I 
 Was A Citizen--A Voter--An Elector Of Presidents Before I Had Been 
 Ashore Three Months, And I Had Sold My Vote Three Times Over Within A 
 Month Of That!  They Had Me Registered under Three Names In three 
 Separate Wards!  I Didn'T Need the Money--I Had Plenty In those Days--I 
 Gave The Six Dollars I Received for My Votes To The Holy Church, And 
 Voted the Other Way To Save My Conscience;  But The Fun Of The Thing 
 Appealed!  By Gassharamminy!  I Can'T Take Life The Way The Copy-Books 
 Lay Down!  I Have To Break Laws Or Else Break Heads!  But I Love 
 America!  I Fought And Bled for America!  By Abraham Lincoln, I Fought 
 Those Spaniards Until I Don'T Doubt They Wished i Had Stayed in greece! 
  Yes, I Left That Middle Finger In cuba--Shot Through The Left Hand By 
 A Don, Think Of It, A Don!  When I Came Out Of Hospital--And I Never 
 Saw Anything Worse Than That Hot Hell!--I Got Myself Attached to The 
 Commissariat, And The Pickings Were None So Bad.  Had To Hand Over Too 
 Much, Though.  That Is The Worst Of America, There Is No Genuine 
 Liberty.  You Have To Steal For The Man Higher Up.  If You Keep More 
 Than Ten Per Cent., He Squeals.  He Has To Pass Most Of It On Again To 
 Some One Else, And So On, And They All Land In jail In course Of Time! 
 Give Me A Country Where A Man Can Keep What He Finds!  There Was Talk 
 About Congressional Inquiries.  Then A Friend Of Mine--A Greek--Who Had 
 Been Out Here Told Me Of Tippoo Tib'S Ivory, And It Looked all Right To 
 Me To Change Scenes For A While.  I Had Citizenship Papers--U. S., And 
 English, And A Greek Passport In case Of Accident.  Traveling Looked 
 Good To Me." 
   
   
 "If You Traveled on A Greek Passport You Couldn'T Use Citizenship 
 Papers Of Any Other Country," Fred objected. 
   
   
 "Who Said I Traveled on A Greek Passport?  Do You Take Me For Such A 
 Fool?  Who Listens To A Greek Consul?  He May Protest, And Accept Fees, 
 But Greece Is A Little Country And No One Listens To Her Consuls.  I 
 Carry A Greek Passport In case I Should Find Somewhere Someday A Greek 
 Consul With Influence Or A Greek Whom I Wish To Convince.  I Traveled 
 To South Africa As An American.  I Went To Cape Town With The Idea Of 
 Going To Salisbury, And Working My Way Up From There As A Trader Into 
 The Congo.  I Reached johannesburg, And There I Did A Little I. D. B. 
 And One Thing and Another Until The Boer War Came.  Then I Fought For 
 The Boers.  Yes, I Have Bled for The Boer Cause.  It Was A Damned bad 
 Cause!  They Robbed me Of Nearly All My Money!  They Left Me To Die 
 When I Was Wounded!  It Was Only By The Grace Of God, And The Intrigues 
 Of A Woman That I Made My Way To Lourenco Marquez.  No, The War Was Not 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 29 
 Over, But What Did I Care?  I, Georges Coutlass, Had Had Enough Of It! 
 I Recompensed myself En Route.  I Do Not Fight For A Bunch Of Thieves 
 For Nothing!  I Sailed from Lourenco Marquez To Mombasa.  I Hunted 
 Elephant In british East Africa Until They Posted a Reward For Me On 
 The Telegraph Poles.  The Law Says Not More Than Two Elephants In one 
 Year.  I Shot Two Hundred!  I Sold The Ivory To An Indian, Bought 
 Cattle, And Went Down Into German East Africa.  The Masai Attacked me, 
 Stole Some Of The Cattle, And Killed others.  The Germans, Damn And 
 Blast Them, Took The Rest!  They Accused me Of Crimes--Me, Georges 
 Coutlass!--And Imposed fines Calculated carefully To Skin Me Of All I 
 Had!  Roup And Rotten Livers! But I Will Knock Them Head-Over-Halleluja 
 One Fine Day!  Not For Nothing Shall They Flim-Flam Georges Coutlass! 
 Which Of You Gentlemen Is The Lord?" 
   
   
 We Bought Him Another Drink, And Watched it Disappear With One 
 Uninterrupted gurgle Down Its Appointed course. 
   
   
 "What Did You Do Next?" Fred asked him Before Be Had Recovered breath 
 Enough To Question Us.  "I Suppose The Germans Had You At A Loose End?" 
   
   
 "Do You Think That?  Sacred history Of Hell!  It Takes More Than A 
 Lousy Military German To Get Georges Coutlass At A Loose End!  They 
 Must Get Me Dead Before That Can Happen!  And Then, By Blitzen, As 
 Those Devils Say, A Dead Georges Coutlass Will Be Better Than A 
 Thousand Dead Germans!  In hell I Will Use Them To Clean My Boots On! 
 At A Loose End, Was I?  I Met This Bloody Rogue Hassan--The Fat 
 Blackguard Who Told Me You Have Come To Zanzibar For Fish--And Made An 
 Agreement With Him To Look For Tippoo Tib'S Buried ivory.  Yes, Sir!  I 
 Showed him Papers.  He Thought They Were Money Drafts.  He Thought Me A 
 Man Of Means Whom He Could Bleed.  I Had Guns And Ammunition, He None. 
 He Pretended to Know Where Some Of Tippoo Tib'S Ivory Is Buried." 
   
   
 "Some Of It, Eh?" Said Fred. 
   
   
 "Some Of It, D'You Say?" Said I. 
   
   
 "Some Of It, Yes.  A Million Tusks.  Some Say Two Million!  Some Say 
 Three!  Thunder!--You Take A Hundred good Tusks And Bury Them;  You'Ll 
 See The Hill You'Ve Made From Five Miles Off!  A Hundred thousand Tusks 
 Would Make A Mountain!  If Any One Buried a Million Tusks In one Spot 
 They'D Mark The Place On Maps As A Watershed!  They Must Be Buried 
 Here, There, Everywhere Along The Trail Of Tippoo Tib--Perhaps A 
 Thousand In one Place At The Most.  Which Of You Two Gentlemen Is The 
 Lord?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 30 
 "Did Hassan Lead You To Any Of It?" Fred inquired. 
   
   
 "Not He!  The Jelly-Belly!  The Arab Pig!  He Led me To Ujiji--That'S 
 On Lake Tanganika--The Old Slave Market Where He Himself Was Once Sold 
 For Ten Cents.  I Don'T Doubt A Piece Of Betel Nut And A Pair Of 
 Worn-Out Shoes Had To Be Thrown In with Him At The Price!  There He 
 Tried to Make Me Pay The Expenses In advance Of A Trip To Usumbora At 
 The Head Of The Lake.  God Knows What It Would Have Cost, The Way He 
 Wanted me To Do It!  Are You The Lord, Sir?" 
   
   
 "What Did You Do?" Asked fred. 
   
   
 "Do?  I Parted company!  I Had Made Him Drunk Once.  (The Arabs Aren'T 
 Supposed to Drink, So When They Do They Get Talkative And Lively!)  And 
 I Knew Arabic Before Ever I Crossed the Atlantic--Learned it In 
 Egypt--Ran Away From A Sponge-Fishing Boat When I Was A Boy.  No, They 
 Don'T Fish Sponges Off The Nile Delta, But You Can Smuggle In a Sponge 
 Boat Better Than In most Ships.  Anyhow, I Learned arabic.  So I 
 Understood What That Pig Hassan Said When He Talked in the Dark With 
 His Brother Swine.  He Knew No More Than I Where The Ivory Was!  He 
 Suspected most Of It Was In a Country Called ruanda That Runs Pretty 
 Much Parallel With The Congo Border To The West Of Victoria Nyanza In 
 German East Africa, And He Was Counting On Finding Natives Who Could 
 Tell Him This And That That Might Put Him On The Trail Of It!  I Could 
 Beat That Game!  I Could Cross-Examine Fool Natives Twice As Well As 
 Any Fat Rascal Of An Ex-Slave!  Seeing He Had Paid All Expenses So Far, 
 However, I Was Not Much To The Bad, So I Picked a Quarrel With Him And 
 We Parted company.  Wouldn'T You Have Done The Same, My Lord?" 
   
   
 But Fred did Not Walk Into The Trap.  "What Did You Do Next?" He Asked. 
   
   
 "Next?  I Got A Job With The Agent Of An Italian Firm To Go North And 
 Buy Skins.  He Made Me A Good Advance Of Trade Goods--Melikani,* Beads, 
 Iron And Brass Wire, Kangas,** And All That Sort Of Thing, And I Did 
 Well.  Made Money On That Trip.  Traveled north Until I Reached 
 Ruanda--Went On Until I Could See The Fire Mountains In the Distance, 
 And The Country All Smothered in lava.  Reached a Cannibal Country, 
 Where The Devils Had Eaten All The Surrounding Tribes Until They Had To 
 Take To Vegetarianism At Last." 
   
   
 ----------------- 
 * Melikani, The Unbleached calico Made In america That Is The Most 
 Useful Trade Goods From Sea To Sea Of Central Africa. 
 ** Kanga, Cotton Piece Goods. 
 ----------------- 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 31 
 "But Did You Find The Ivory?" Fred insisted. 
   
   
 "No, Or By Jiminy, I Wouldn'T Be Here!  If I'D Found It I'D Have 
 Settled down With A Wife In greece Long Ago.  I'D Be Keeping an Inn, 
 And Growing Wine, And Living Like A Gentleman!  But I Found Out Enough 
 To Know There'S A System That Goes With The Ivory Tippoo Tib Buried. 
 If You Found One Lot, That Would Lead You To The Next, And So On.  I 
 Got A Suspicion Where One Lot Is, Although I Couldn'T Prove It.  And I 
 Made Up My Mind That The German Government Knows Darned well Where A 
 Lot Of It Is!" 
   
   
 "Then Why Don'T The Germans Dig It Up?" Demanded fred. 
   
   
 "Aha!" Laughed coutlass.  "If I Know, Why Should I Tell! If They Know, 
 Why Should They Tell?  Suppose That Some Of It Were In congo Territory, 
 And Some In british East Africa?  Suppose They Should Want To Get The 
 Lot?  What Then?  If They Uncovered their Bit In german East Africa 
 Mightn'T That Put The Congo And The British On The Trail?" 
   
   
 "If They Know Where It Is," Said I, "They'Ll Certainly Guard It." 
   
   
 "Which Of You Is The Lord?" Demanded coutlass Earnestly. 
   
   
 "What Do You Suppose Hassan Is Doing, Then, Here In zanzibar?" Asked 
 Fred. 
   
   
 "Rum And Eggs!  I Know What He Is Doing!  When I Snapped my Thumb Under 
 His Fat Nose And Told Him About The Habits Of His Female Ancestors Be 
 Went To The Germans And Informed against Me!  The Sneak-Thief!  The 
 Turn-Coat!  The Maggot!  I Shall Not Forget!  I, Georges Coutlass, 
 Forget Nothing!  He Informed against Me, And They Set Askaris* On My 
 Trail Who Prevented me From Making Further Search.  I Had To Sit Idle 
 In Usumbura Or Ujiji, Or Else Come Away;  And Idleness Ill Suits My 
 Blood!  I Came Here, And Hassan Followed me.  The Germans Made A 
 Regular, Salaried spy Of Him--The Semi-Arab Rat!  The One-Tenth Arab, 
 Nine-Tenths Mud-Rat!  Here He Stays In zanzibar And Spies On Tippoo 
 Tib, On Me, On The British Government, And On Every Stranger Who Comes 
 Here.  His Information Goes To The Germans.  I Know, For I Intercepted 
 Some Of It!  He Writes It Out In arabic, And Provided no Woman Goes 
 Through The Folds Of His Clothes Or Feels Under That Silken Belly-Piece 
 Be Wears, The Germans Get It.  But If A Woman Does, And She'S A Friend 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 32 
 Of Mine, That'S Different!  Are You The Lord, Sir?" 
   
   
 ------------------ 
 * Askari, Native Soldier. 
 ------------------ 
   
   
 "What Do You Propose?" Asked fred. 
   
   
 "Help Me Find That Ivory!" Said Coutlass. "I Have Very Little Money 
 Left, But I Have Guns, And Courage!  I Know Where To Look, And I Am Not 
 Afraid!  No German Can Scare Me!  I Am English-American-Greek!--Better 
 Than Any Hundred germans!  Let Us Find The Ivory, And Share It!  Let Us 
 Get It Out Through British Territory, Or The Congo, So That No German 
 Sausage Can Interfere With Us Or Take Away One Tusk!  Gee-Rusalem, How 
 I Hate The Swine.  Let Us Put One Over On Them!  Let Us Get The Ivory 
 To Europe, And Then Flaunt The Deed under Their Noses!  Let Us Send One 
 Little Tip Of A Female Tusk To The Kaiser For A Souvenir--Female In 
 Proof It Is All Illegitimate, Illegal, Outlawed!  Let Us Send Him A 
 Piece Of Ivory And A Letter Telling Him All About It, And What We Think 
 Of Him And His Swine-Officials!  His Lieutenants And His Captains!  Let 
 Us Smuggle The Ivory Out Through The Congo--It Can Be Done!  It Can Be 
 Done!  I, Georges Coutlass, Will Find The Ivory, And Find The Way!" 
   
   
 "No Need to Smuggle It Out," Said Fred.  "The British Government Will 
 Give Us Ten Per Cent., Or So I Understand, Of The Value Of All Of It We 
 Find In british East." 
   
   
 Georges Coutlass Threw Back His Head And Roared with Laughter, Slapped 
 His Thighs, Held His Sides--Then Coughed for Two Or Three Minutes, And 
 Spat Blood. 
   
   
 "You Are The Lord, All Right!" He Gasped as Soon As He Could Get 
 Breath.  "No Need to Smuggle It!  Ha-Ha!  May I Be Damned!  Ten Per 
 Cent. They'Ll Give Us!   Ha-Ha!  Generous!  By Whip And Wheel! They'Re 
 Lucky If We Give Them Five Per Cent.!  I'D Like To See Any Government 
 Take Away From Georges Coutlass Ninety Per Cent. Of Anything Without A 
 Fight!  No, Gentlemen!  No, My Lord!  The Belgian Congo Government Is 
 Corrupt.  Let Us Spend Twenty-Five Per Cent.--Even Thirty-Forty-Fifty 
 Per Cent. Of The Value Of It To Bribe The Congo Officials.  Hand Over 
 Ninety Per Cent. To The Germans Or The British Without A Fight?--Never! 
  Never While My Name Is Georges Coutlass!  I Have Fought Too Often!  I 
 Have Been Robbed by Governments Too Often!  This Last Time I Will Put 
 It Over All The Governments, And Be Rich At Last, And Go Home To Greece 
 To Live Like A Gentleman!  Believe Me!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 33 
 He Patted himself On The Breast, And If Flashing Eye And Frothing Lip 
 Went For Anything, Then All The Governments Were As Good As Defeated 
 Already. 
   
   
 "You Are The Lord, Are You Not?" He Demanded, Looking Straight At Fred. 
   
   
 "My Name Is Oakes," Fred answered. 
   
   
 "Oh, Then You?  I Beg Pardon!"  He Looked at Me With Surprise That He 
 Made No Attempt To Conceal.  Fred could Pass For A King With That 
 Pointed beard Of His (Provided he Were Behaving Himself Seemly At The 
 Time) But For All My Staid Demeanor I Have Never Been Mistaken For Any 
 Kind Of Personage.  I Disillusioned coutlass Promptly. 
   
   
 "Then You Are Neither Of You Lords?" 
   
   
 "Pish!  We'Re Obviously Ladies!" Answered fred. 
   
   
 "Then You Have Fooled me?"  The Greek Rose To His Feet.  "You Have 
 Deceived me?  You Have Accepted my Hospitality And Confidence Under 
 False Pretense?" 
   
   
 I Think There Would Have Been A Fight, For Fred was Never The Man To 
 Accept Brow-Beating From Chance-Met Strangers, And The Greek'S Fiery 
 Eye Was Rolling In fine Frenzy;  But Just At That Moment Yerkes 
 Strolled in, Cheerful And Brisk. 
   
   
 "Hullo, Fellers!  This Is Some Thirsty Burg.  Do They Sell Soft Drinks 
 In This Joint?" He Inquired. 
   
   
 "By Brooklyn Bridge!" Exclaimed coutlass. "An American!  I, Too, Am An 
 American!  Fellow-Citizen, These Men Have Treated me Badly!  They Have 
 Tricked me!" 
   
   
 "You Must Be Dead Easy!" Said Yerkes Genially.  "If Those Two Wanted to 
 Live At The Con Game, They'D Have To Practise On The Junior 
 Kindergarten Grades.  They'Re The Mildest Men I Know.  I Let That One 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 34 
 With The Beard Hold My Shirt And Pants When I Go Swimming!  Tricked 
 You, Have They?  Say--Have You Got Any Money Left?" 
   
   
 "Oh, Have A Drink!" Laughed the Greek.  "Have One On Me!  It'S Good To 
 Hear You Talk!" 
   
   
 "What Have My Friends Done To You?" Asked yerkes. 
   
   
 "I Was Looking For A Lord.  They Pretended to Be Lords." 
   
   
 "What?  Both Of 'Em?" 
   
   
 "No, It Is One Lord I Am Looking For." 
   
   
 "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism!" Said Yerkes Profanely. 
 "And You Found Two?  What'S Your Worry?  I'Ll Pretend To Be A Third If 
 That'Ll Help You Any!" 
   
   
 "Gentlemen," Said The Greek, Rising To His Full Height And Letting His 
 Rage Begin To Gather Again, "You Play With Me.  That Is Not Well!  You 
 Waste My Time.  That Is Not Wise!  I Come In all Innocence, Looking For 
 A Certain Lord--A Real Genuine Lord--The Earl Of Montdidier And 
 Kirscrubbrightshaw--My God, What A Name!" 
   
   
 "I'M Mundidier," Said A Level Voice, And The Greek Faced about Like A 
 Man Attacked.  Monty Had Entered the Barroom And Stood Listening With 
 Calm Amusement, That For Some Strange Reason Exasperated the Greek Less 
 Than Our Attitude Had Done, At Least For The Moment.  When The First 
 Flush Of Surprise Had Died he Grinned and Grew Gallant. 
   
   
 "My Own Name Is Georges Coutlass, My Lord!"  He Made A Sweeping Bow, 
 Almost Touching The Floor With The Brim Of His Cowboy Hat, And Then 
 Crossing His Breast With It. 
   
   
 "What Can I Do For You?" Asked monty. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 35 
 "Listen To Me!" 
   
   
 "Very Well.  I Can Spare Fifteen Minutes." 
   
   
 We All Took Seats Together In a Far Corner Of The Dingy Room, Where The 
 Syrian Barkeeper Could Not Overhear Us. 
   
   
 "My Lord, I Am An Englishman!" Coutlass Began.  "I Am A God-Fearing, 
 Law-Abiding Gentleman!  I Know Where To Look For The Ivory That The 
 Arab Villain Tippoo Tib Has Buried!  I Know How To Smuggle It Out Of 
 Africa Without Paying a Penny Of Duty--" 
   
   
 "Did You Say Law-Abiding?" Monty Asked. 
   
   
 "Surely!  Always!  I Never Break The Law!  As For Instance--In Greece, 
 Where I Had The Honor To Be Born, The Law Says No Man Shall Carry A 
 Knife Or Wear One In his Belt.  So, Since I Was A Little Boy I Carry 
 None!  I Have None In my Hand--None At My Belt.  I Keep It Here!" 
   
   
 He Stooped, Raised his Right Trousers Leg, And Drew From His Wellington 
 Boot A Two-Edged, Pointed thing almost Long Enough To Merit The Name Of 
 Rapier.  He Tossed it In the Air, Let It Spin Six Or Seven Times End 
 Over End, Caught It Deftly By The Point, And Returned it To Its 
 Hiding-Place. 
   
   
 "I Am A Law-Abiding Man," He Said, "But Where The Law Leaves Off, I 
 Know Where To Begin!  I Am No Fool!" 
   
   
 Monty Made Up His Mind There And Then That This Man'S Game Would Not Be 
 Worth The Candle. 
   
   
 "No, Mr. Coutlass, I Can'T Oblige You," He Said. 
   
   
 The Greek Half-Arose And Then Sat Down Again. 
   
   
 "You Can Not Find It Without My Assistance!" He Said, Wrinkling His 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 36 
 Face For Emphasis. 
   
   
 "I'M Not Looking For Assistance," Said Monty. 
   
   
 "Aha!  You Play With Words!  You Are Not--But You Will!  I Am No Fool, 
 My Lord!  I Understand!  Not For Nothing Did I Make A Friend Again Of 
 That Pig Hassan!  Not For Nothing Have I Waited all These Months In 
 This Stinking Zanzibar Until A Man Should Come In search Of That Ivory 
 Whom I Could Trust!  Not For Nothing Did Juma, The Lazaretto Attendant 
 Tell Hassan You Desired to See Him!  You Seek The Ivory, But You Wish 
 To Keep It All!  To Share None Of It With Me!"  He Stood Up, And Made 
 Another Bow, Much Curter Than His Former One.  "I Am Georges Coutlass! 
 My Courage Is Known!  No Man Can Rob Me And Get Away With It!" 
   
   
 "My Good Man," Drawled monty, Raising His Eyebrows In the Comfortless 
 Way He Has When There Seems Need of Facing an Inferior Antagonist.  (He 
 Hates To "Lord It" As Thoroughly As He Loves To Risk His Neck.)  "I 
 Would Not Rob You If You Owned the Earth!  If You Have Valuable 
 Information I'Ll Pay For It Cheerfully After It'S Tested." 
   
   
 "Ah!  Now You Talk!" 
   
   
 "Observe--I Said After It'S Tested!" 
   
   
 "I Don'T Think He Knows Anything," Said Fred.  "I Think He Guessed a 
 Lot, And Wants To Look, And Can'T Afford To Pay His Own Expenses. 
 Isn'T That It?" 
   
   
 "What Do You Mean?" Demanded coutlass. 
   
   
 "I Can'T Talk Greek," Said Fred. "Shall I Say It Again In english?" 
   
   
 "You May Name Any Reasonable Price," Said Monty, "For Real Information. 
  Put It In writing.  When We'Re Agreed on The Price, Put That In 
 Writing Too.  Then, If We Find The Information Is Even Approximately 
 Right, Why, We'Ll Pay For It." 
   
   
 "Ah-H-H!  You Intend To Play A Trick On Me!  You Use My Information! 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 37 
 You Find The Ivory!  You Go Out By The Congo River And The Other Coast, 
 And I Kiss Myself Good-By To You And Ivory And Money!  I Am To Be What 
 D'You Call It?--A Milk-Pigeon!" 
   
   
 "Being That Must Be Some Sensation!" Nodded yerkes. 
   
   
 "I Warn You I Can Not Be Tampered with!" Snarled the Greek, Putting On 
 His Hat With A Flourish.  "I Leave You, For You To Think It Over!  But 
 I Tell You This--I Promise You--I Swear!  Any Expedition In search Of 
 That Ivory That Does Not Include Georges Coutlass On His Own Terms Is A 
 Delusion--A Busted flush--Smashed--Exploded--Pfff !--So--Evanesced 
 Before The Start!  My Address Is Zanzibar!  Every Street Child Knows 
 Me!  When You Wish To Know My Terms, Tell The First Man Or Child You 
 Meet To Lead You To The House Where Georges Coutlass Lives!  Good 
 Morning, Lord Skirtsshubrish!  We Will No Doubt Meet Again!" 
   
   
 He Turned his Back On Us And Strode From The Room--A Man Out Of The 
 Middle Ages, Soldierly Of Bearing, Unquestionably Bold, And Not One Bit 
 More Venial Or Lawless Than Ninety Per Cent. Of History'S Gallants, If 
 The Truth Were Told. 
   
   
 "Let'S Hope That'S The Last Of Him!" Said Monty.  "Can'T Say I Like 
 Him, But I'D Hate To Have To Spoil His Chances." 
   
   
 "Last Of Him Be Sugared!" Said Yerkes.  "That'S Only The First Of Him! 
 He'Ll Find Seven Devils Worse Than Himself And Camp On Our Trail, If I 
 Know Anything Of Greeks--That'S To Say, If Our Trail Leads After That 
 Ivory.  Does It?" 
   
   
 "Depends," Said Monty.  "Let'S Talk Upstairs.  That Syrian Has Long 
 Ears." 
   
   
 So We Trooped to Monty'S Room, Where The Very Cobwebs Reeked of Arab 
 History And Lawless Plans.  He Sat On The Black Iron Bed, And We 
 Grouped ourselves About On Chairs That Had Very Likely Covered the 
 Known World Between Them.  One Was Obviously Jetsam From A Steamship; 
 One Was A Chinese Thing, Carved with Staggering Dragons;  The Other Was 
 Made Of Iron-Hard Wood That Yerkes Swore Came From South America. 
   
   
 "Shoot When You'Re Ready!" Grinned yerkes. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 38 
 I Was Too Excited to Sit Still.  So Was Fred. 
   
   
 "Get A Move On, Didums, For God'S Sake!" He Growled. 
   
   
 "Well," Said Monty, "There Seems Something In this Ivory Business.  Our 
 Chance Ought To Be As Good As Anybody'S.  But There Are One Or Two 
 Stiff Hurdles.  In the First Place, The Story Is Common Property. 
 Every One Knows It--Arabs--Swahili--Greeks--Germans--English.  To Be 
 Suspected of Looking For It Would Spell Failure, For The Simple Reason 
 That Every Adventurer On The Coast Would Trail Us, And If We Did Find 
 It We Shouldn'T Be Able To Keep The Secret For Five Minutes.  If We 
 Found It Anywhere Except On British Territory It 'Ud Be Taken Away From 
 Us Before We'D Time To Turn Round.  And It Isn'T Buried on British 
 Territory!  I'Ve Found Out That Much." 
   
   
 "Good God, Didums!  D'You Mean You Know Where The Stuff Is?" 
   
   
 Fred sat Forward Like A Man At A Play. 
   
   
 "I Know Where It Isn'T," Said Monty.  "They Told Me At The Residency 
 That In all Human Probability It'S Buried part In german East, And By 
 Far The Greater Part In the Congo." 
   
   
 "Then That Ten Per Cent. Offer By The British Is A Bluff?" Asked yerkes. 
   
   
 "Out Of Date," Said Monty.  "The Other Governments Offer Nothing.  The 
 German Government Might Make Terms With A German Or A Greek--Not With 
 An Englishman.  The Congo Government Is An Unknown Quantity, But Would 
 Probably See Reason If Approached the Proper Way." 
   
   
 "The U. S. Consul Tells Me," Said Yerkes, "That The Congo Government Is 
 The Rottenest Aggregate Of Cutthroats, Horse-Thieves, Thugs, Yeggs, 
 Common-Or-Ordinary Hold-Ups, And Sleight-Of-Hand Professors That The 
 World Ever Saw In one God-Forsaken Country.  He Says They'Re Of Every 
 Nationality, But Without Squeam Of Any Kind--Hang Or Shoot You As Soon 
 As Look At You!  He Says If There'S Any Ivory Buried in those Parts 
 They'Ve Either Got It And Sold It, Or Else They Buried it Themselves 
 And Spread The Story For A Trap To Fetch Greenhorns Over The Border!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 39 
 "That Man'S After The Stuff Himself!" Said Fred.  "All He Wanted to Do 
 Was Stall You Off!" 
   
   
 "That Man Schillingschen The Doctor Told Us About," Said Monty, "Is 
 Suspected of Knowing Where To Look For Some Of The Congo Hoard.  He'Ll 
 Bear Watching.  He'S In british East Africa At Present--Said To Be 
 Combing Nairobi And Other Places For A Certain Native.  He Is Known To 
 Stand High In the Favor Of The German Government, But Poses As A 
 Professor Of Ethnology." 
   
   
 "He Shall Study Deathnology," Said Fred, "If He Gets In my Way!" 
   
   
 "The Congo People," Said Monty, "Would Have Dug Up The Stuff, Of 
 Course, If They'D Known Where To Look For It.  Our People Believe That 
 The Germans Do Know Whereabouts To Look For It, But Dread Putting The 
 Congo Crowd On The Scent.  If We'Re After It We'Ve Got To Do Two Things 
 Besides Agreeing Between Ourselves." 
   
   
 "Deal Me In, Monty!" Said Yerkes. 
   
   
 "Nil Desperandum, Didums Duce, Then!" Said Fred.  "I Propose Monty For 
 Leader.  Those Against The Motion Take Their Shirts Off, And See If 
 They Can Lick Me!  Nobody Pugnacious?  The Ayes Have It!  Talk Along, 
 Didums!" 
   
   
 For All Fred'S Playfulness, Yerkes And I Came In of Our Free And 
 Considered will, And Monty Understood That. 
   
   
 "We'Ve Got To Separate," He Said, "And I'Ve Got To Interview The King 
 Of Belgium." 
   
   
 "If That Were My Job," Grinned yerkes, "I'D Prob'Ly Tell Him Things!" 
   
   
 "I Don'T Pretend To Like Him," Said Monty. "But It Seems To Me I Can 
 Serve Our Best Interests By Going To Brussels.  He Can'T Very Well 
 Refuse Me A Private Audience.  I Should Get A Contract With The Congo 
 Government Satisfactory To All Concerned.  He'S Rapacious--But I Think 
 Not Ninety Per Cent. Rapacious." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 40 
 "Good," Said I, "But Why Separate?" 
   
   
 "If We Traveled toward The Congo From This Place In a Bunch," Said 
 Monty, "We Should Give The Game Away Completely And Have All The 
 Rag-Tag And Bob-Tail On Our Heels.  As It Is, Our Only Chance Of 
 Shaking all Of Them Would Be To Go Round By Sea And Enter The Congo 
 From The Other Side;  But That Would Destroy Our Chance Of Picking Up 
 The Trail In german East Africa.  So I'Ll Go To Brussels, And Get Back 
 To British East As Fast As Possible.  Fred must Go To British East And 
 Watch Schillingschen.  You Two Fellows May As Well Go By Way Of British 
 East Africa To Muanza On Victoria Nyanza, And On From There To The 
 Congo Border By Way Of Ujiji.  Yerkes Is An American, And They'Ll 
 Suspect Him Less Than Any Of Us (They'D Nail Me, Of Course, In a 
 Minute!)  So Let Yerkes Make A Great Show Of Looking For Land To Settle 
 On.  We'Ll All Four Meet On The Congo Border, At Some Other Place To Be 
 Decided later.  We'Ll Have To Agree On A Code, And Keep In touch By 
 Telegraph As Often As Possible.  Now, Is All That Clear?" 
   
   
 "We Two'Ll Have All The Greeks Of Zanzibar Trailing Us All The Way!" 
 Objected yerkes. 
   
   
 "That'Ll Be Better Than Having Them Trail The Lot Of Us," Said Monty. 
 "You'Ll Be Able To Shake Them Somewhere On The Way.  We'Ll Count On 
 Your Ingenuity, Will." 
   
   
 "But What Am I To Do To Schillingschen?" Asked fred. 
   
   
 "Keep An Eye On Him." 
   
   
 "Do You See Me Sherlock-Holmesing Him Across The High Veld? Piffle! 
 Give America That Job!  I'Ll Go Through German East And Keep Ahead Of 
 The Greeks!" 
   
   
 But Monty Was Firm.  "Yerkes Has A Plausible Excuse, Fred.  They May 
 Wonder Why An American Should Look For Land In german East Africa, But 
 They'Ll Let Him Do It, And Perhaps Not Spy On Him To Any Extent.  It'S 
 Me They'Ve Their Eye On.  I'Ll Try To Keep 'Em Dazzled.  You Go To 
 British East And Dazzle Schillingschen! Now, Are We Agreed?" 
   
   
 We Were.  But We Talked, Nevertheless, Long Into The Afternoon, And In 
 The End There Was Not One Of Us Really Satisfied.  Over And Over We 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 1 (The Njo Hapa* Song) Pg 41 
 Tried to Persuade Monty To Omit The Brussels Part Of The Plan.  We 
 Wanted him With Us.  But He Stuck To His Point, And Had His Way, As He 
 Always Did When We Were Quite Sure He Really Wanted it. 
   
   
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 42 
 Gleam, Oh Brighter Than Jewels! Gleam My Swinging Stars In 
         The Opal Dark, 
 Mirrored along Wi' The Fire-Fly Dance Of 'Longshore Light And 
         Off-Shore Mark, 
 The Roof-Lamps And The Riding Lights, And Phosphor Wake Of 
         Ship And Shark. 
   
   
         I Was Old When The Fires Of Arab Ships 
         (All Seas Were Lawless Then!) 
         Abode The Tide Where Liners Ride 
         To-Day, And Malays Then,-- 
         Old When The Bold Da Gama Came 
         With Culverin And Creed 
         To Trade Where Solomon'S Men Fought, 
         And Plunder Where The Banyans Bought, 
         I Sighed when The First O' The Slaves Were Brought, 
         And Laughed when The Last Were Freed. 
   
   
 Deep, Oh Deeper Than Anchors Drop, The Bones O' The Outbound 
         Sailors Lie, 
 Far, Oh Farther Than Breath O' Wind The Rumors O' Fabled 
         Fortune Fly, 
 And The 'Venturers Yearn From The Ends Of Earth, For None O' 
         The Isles Is As Fair As I! 
   
   
 The Enormous Map Of Africa Loses No Lure Or Mystery From The Fact Of 
 Nearness To The Continent Itself.  Rather It Increases.  In the Hot 
 Upper Room That Night, Between The Wreathing Smoke Of Oil Lamps, We 
 Pored over The Large Scale Map Monty Had Saved from The Wreck Along 
 With Our Money Drafts And Papers. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 43 
 The Atmosphere Was One Of Bygone Piracy.  The Great Black Ceiling 
 Beams, Heavy-Legged table Of Two-Inch Planks, Floor Laid Like A Dhow'S 
 Deck--Making Utmost Use Of Odd Lengths Of Timber, But Strong Enough To 
 Stand Up Under Hurricanes And Overloads Of Plunder, Or To Batten Down 
 Rebellious Slaves--Murmurings From Rooms Below, Where Men Of Every Race 
 That Haunts Those Shark-Infested seas Were Drinking and Telling Tales 
 That Would Make Munchhausen'S Reputation--Steaminess, Outer Darkness, 
 Spicy Equatorial Smells And, Above All, Knowledge Of The Nature Of The 
 Coming Quest United to Veil The Map In fascination. 
   
   
 No Man Gifted with Imagination Better Than A Hot-Cross Bun'S Could Be 
 In Zanzibar And Not Be Conscious Of The Lure That Made Adventurers Of 
 Men Before The First Tales Were Written.  Old King Solomon'S Traders 
 Must Have Made It Their Headquarters, Just As It Was Sindbad The 
 Sailor'S Rendezvous And That Of Pirates Before He Or Solomon Were Born 
 Or Thought Of.  Vasco Da Gama, Stout Portuguese Gentleman Adventurer, 
 Conquered it, And No Doubt Looted the Godowns To A Lively Tune.  Wave 
 After Wave Of Arabs Sailed to It (As They Do Today) From That Other 
 Land Of Mystery, Arabia;  And There Isn'T A Yard Of Coral Beach, 
 Cocoanut-Fringed shore, Clove Orchard, Or Vanilla Patch--Not A Lemon 
 Tree Nor A Thousand-Year-Old Baobab But Could Tell Of Battle And 
 Intrigue;  Not A Creek Where The Dhows Lie Peacefully Today But Could 
 Whisper Of Cargoes Run By Night--Black Cargoes, Groaning Fretfully And 
 Smelling Of The 'Tween-Deck Lawlessness. 
   
   
 "There Are Two Things That Have Stuck In my Memory That Lord Salisbury 
 Used to Say When I Was An Eton Boy, Spending a Holiday At Hatfield 
 House," Said Monty.  "One Was, Never Talk Fight Unless You Mean Fight; 
 Then Fight, Don'T Talk.  The Other Was, Always Study The Largest Maps." 
   
   
 "Who'S Talking Fight?" Demanded fred. 
   
   
 Monty Ignored him.  "Even This Map Isn'T Big Enough To Give A Real Idea 
 Of Distances, But It Helps.  You See, There'S No Railway Beyond 
 Victoria Nyanza.  Anything at All Might Happen In those Great Spaces 
 Beyond Uganda.  Borderlands Are Quarrel-Grounds.  I Should Say The 
 Junction Of British, Belgian, And German Territory Where Arab Loot Lies 
 Buried is The Last Place To Dally In unarmed.  You Fellows 'Ud Better 
 Scour Zanzibar In the Morning For The Best Guns To Be Had Here." 
   
   
 So I Went To Bed at Midnight With That Added stuff For Building Dreams. 
  He Who Has Bought Guns Remembers With A Thrill;  He Who Has Not, Has 
 In Store For Him The Most Delightful Hours Of Life.  May He Fall, As 
 Our Lot Was, On A Gunsmith Who Has Mended hammerlocks For Arabs, And 
 Who Loves Rifles As Some Greater Rascals Love A Woman Or A Horse. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 44 
 We All Four Strolled next Morning, Clad In the Khaki Reachmedowns That 
 A Goanese "Universal Provider" Told Us Were The "Latest Thing," Into A 
 Den Between A Camel Stable And An Even Mustier-Smelling Home Of Gloom, 
 Where Oxen Tied nose-To-Tail Went Round And Round, Grinding Out Semsem 
 Everlastingly While A Lean Swahili Sang To Them.  When He Ceased, They 
 Stopped.  When He Sang, They All Began Again. 
   
   
 In A Bottle-Shaped room At The End Of A Passage Squeezed between Those 
 Two Centers Of Commerce Sat The Owner Of The Gun-Store, Part Arab, Part 
 Italian, Part Englishman, Apparently Older Than Sin Itself, Toothless, 
 Except For One Yellow Fang That Lay Like An Ornament Over His Lower 
 Lip, And Able To Smile More Winningly Than Any Siren Of The Sidewalk. 
 Evidently He Shaved at Intervals, For White Stubble Stood Out A Third 
 Of An Inch All Over His Wrinkled face.  The Upper Part Of His Head Was 
 Utterly Bald, Slippery, Shiny, Smooth, And Adorned by An Absurd, Round 
 Indian Cap, Too Small, That Would Not Stay In place And Had To Be 
 Hitched at Intervals. 
   
   
 He Said His Name Was Captain Thomas Cook, And The License To Sell 
 Firearms Framed on The Mud-Brick Wall Bore Him Witness.  (May He Live 
 Forever Under Any Name He Chooses!) 
   
   
 "Goons?" He Said. "Goons?  You Gentlemen Want Goons?  I Have The Goon 
 What Settled the Hash Of Sayed bin Mohammed--Here It Be.  This Other 
 One'S The Rifle--See The Nicks On Her Butt!--That Kamarajes The Greek 
 Used.  See 'Em--Arab Goons--Slaver Goons--Smooth-Bore Elephant 
 Goons--Fours, Eights, Twelves--Martinis--Them'S The Lot That Was 
 Reekin' Red-Hot, Days On End, In the Last Arab War On The Congo, 
 Considerable Used up But Goin' Cheap;--Then Here'S Mausers (He 
 Pronounced it "Morsers")-- Old-Style, Same As Used in 1870--Good Goons 
 They Be, Long O' Barrel And Strong, But Too High Trajectory For Some 
 Folks;--Some'S New Style, Magazines An' All--Fine Till A Grain O' Sand 
 Jams 'Em Oop;--An' Lee-Enfields, Souvenirs O' The Boer War, Some O' 
 Them Bought From Folks What Plundered a Battle-Field Or Two--Mostly All 
 In Good Condition.  Look At This One--See It--Hold It--Take A Squint 
 Along It!  Nineteen Elephants Shot Wi' That Lee-Enfleld, An' The Man'S 
 In Jail For Shootin' Of 'Em!  Sold At Auction By The Gov'Ment, That One 
 Was.  See, Here'S An Express--A Beauty--Owned by An Officer Fr'M 
 Indy--Took By A Shark 'E Was, In swimmin' Against All Advice, Him What 
 Had Hunted tigers!  There'S No Goon Store A Quarter As Good As Mine 
 'Tween Cairo An' The Cape Or Bombay An-' Boma!  Captain Cook'S The Boy 
 To Sell Ye Goons All Right!  Sit Down.  Look 'Em Over.  Ask Anything Ye 
 Want To Know.  I'Ll Tell Ye.  No Obligation To Buy." 
   
   
 There Is No Need to Fit Out With Guns And Tents In london.  Until Both 
 Good And Bad, Both Cowardly And Brave Give Up The Habit Of Dying In 
 Bed, Or Getting Killed, Or Going Broke, Or Ending Up In jail For One 
 Cause And The Other, There Will Surely Always Be Fine Pickings For Men 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 45 
 On The Spot With A Little Money And A Lot Of Patience--Guns, Tents, 
 Cooking Pots, And All The Other Things. 
   
   
 We Spent A Morning With Captain Thomas Cook, And Left The Store--Fred, 
 Yerkes And I--With A Battery Of Weapons, Including a Pistol 
 Apiece--That Any Expedition Might Be Proud Of.  (Monty, Since He Had To 
 Go Home In any Case, Preferred to Look Over The Family Gun-Room Before 
 Committing Himself.) 
   
   
 Then, Since The First Leg Of The Journey Would Be The Same For All Of 
 Us We Bought Other Kit, Packed it, And Booked passages For British East 
 Africa.  Between Then And The Next Afternoon When The British India 
 Steamboat Sailed we Were Fairly Bombarded by Inquisitiveness, But 
 Contrived not To Tell Much.  And With Patience Beyond Belief Monty 
 Restrained us From Paying Court To Tippoo Tib. 
   
   
 "The U. S. Consul Says He'S Better Worth A Visit Than Most Of The 
 World'S Museums," Yerkes Assured us Two Or Three Times.  "He Says 
 Tippoo Tib'S A Fine Old Sport--Damned rogue--Slave-Hunter, But White 
 Somewhere Near The Middle.  What'S The Harm In our Having a Chin With 
 Him?" 
   
   
 But Monty Was Adamant. 
   
   
 "A Call On Him Would Prove Nothing, But He And His Friends Would 
 Suspect.  Spies Would Inform The German Government.  No.  Let'S Act As 
 If Tippoo Tib Were Out Of Mind." 
   
   
 We Grumbled, But We Yielded.  Hassan Came Again, Shiny With Sweat And 
 Voluble With Offers Of Information And Assistance. 
   
   
 "Where You Gentlemen Going?" He Kept Asking. 
   
   
 "England," Said Monty, And Showed his Own Steamer Ticket In proof Of 
 It. 
 That Settled hassan For The Time But Georges Coutlass Was Not So Easy. 
 He Came Swaggering Upstairs And Thumped on Monty'S Door With The Air Of 
 A Bearer Of King'S Messages. 
   
   
 "What Do You Intend To Do?" He Asked.  (We Were All Sitting On Monty'S 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 46 
 Bed, And It Was Yerkes Who Opened the Door.) 
   
   
 "Do You An Injury," Said Yerkes, "Unless You Take Your Foot Away!"  The 
 Greek Had Placed it Deftly To Keep The Door Open Pending His 
 Convenience. 
   
   
 "Let Him Have His Say" Advised monty From The Bed. 
   
   
 "Where Are You Going?  Hassan Told Me England.  Are You All Going To 
 England?  If So, Why Have You Bought Guns?  What Will You Do With Six 
 Rifles, Three Shot-Guns, And Three Pistols On The London Streets?  What 
 Will You Do With Tents In london?  Will You Make Campfires In regent 
 Circus, That You Take With You All Those Cooking Pots?  And All That 
 Rice, Is That For The English To Eat?  Bah!  No Tenderfoot Can Fool Me! 
  You Go To Find My Ivory, D'You Hear!  You Think To Get Away With It 
 Unknown To Me!  I Tell You I Have Sharp Ears!  By Jingo;  There Is 
 Nothing I Can Not Find Out That Goes On In africa!  You Think To Cheat 
 Me?  Then You Are As Good As Dead Men!  You Shall Die Like Dogs!  I 
 Will Smithereen The Whole Damned lot Of You Before You Touch A Tusk!" 
   
   
 "Get Out Of Here!" Growled yerkes. 
   
   
 "Give Him A Chance To Go Quietly, Will," Urged monty, And Coutlass 
 Heard Him.  Peaceful Advice Seemed the Last Spark Needed to Explode His 
 Crowded magazines Of Fury.  He Clenched his Fists--Spat Because The 
 Words Would Not Flow Fast Enough--And Screamed. 
   
   
 "Give Me A Chance, Eh?  A Chance, Eh?"  Other Doors Began Opening, And 
 The Appearance Of An Audience Stimulated him To Further Peaks Of Rage. 
 "The Only Chance I Need is A Sight Of Your Carcasses Within Range, And 
 A Long Range Will Do For Georges Coutlass!"  He Glared past Yerkes At 
 Monty Who Had Risen Leisurely.  "You Call Yourself A Lord?  I Call You 
 A Thief!  A Jackal!" 
   
   
 "Here, Get Out!" Growled yerkes, Self-Constituted cerberus. 
   
   
 "I Will Go When I Damned please, You Yankee Jackanapes!" The Greek 
 Retorted through Set Teeth.  Yerkes Is A Free Man, Able And Willing To 
 Shoulder His Own End Of Any Argument.  He Closed, And The Greek'S Ribs 
 Cracked under A Vastly Stronger Hug Than He Had Dreamed of Expecting. 
 But Coutlass Was No Weakling Either, And Though He Gasped he Gathered 
 Himself For A Terrific Effort. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 47 
 "Come On!" Said Monty, And Went Past Me Through The Door Like A Bolt 
 From A Catapult.  Fred followed me, And When He Saw Us Both Out On The 
 Landing Monty Started down The Stairs. 
   
   
 "Come On!" He Called again. 
   
   
 We Followed, For There Is No Use In choosing a Leader If You Don'T 
 Intend To Obey Him, Even On Occasions When You Fail At Once To 
 Understand.  There Was One Turn On The Wide Stairs, And Monty Stood 
 There, Back To The Wall. 
   
   
 "Go Below, You Fellows, And Catch!" He Laughed.  "We Don'T Want Will 
 Jailed for Homicide!" 
   
   
 The Struggle Was Fierce And Swift.  Coutlass Searched with A Thumb For 
 Will'S Eye, And Stamped on His Instep With An Iron-Shod Heel.  But He 
 Was A Dissolute Brute, And For All His Strength Yerkes' Cleaner Living 
 Very Soon Told.  Presently Will Spared a Hand To Wrench At The 
 Ambitious Thumb, And Coutlass Screamed with Agony.  Then He Began To 
 Sway This Way And That Without Volition Of His Own, Yielding His 
 Balance, And Losing It Again And Again.  In another Minute Yerkes Had 
 Him Off His Feet, Cursing and Kicking. 
   
   
 "Steady, Will!" Called monty From Below;  But It Was Altogether Too 
 Late For Advice.  Will Gathered himself Like A Spring, And Hurled the 
 Greek Downstairs Backward. 
   
   
 Then The Point Of Monty'S Strategy Appeared. He Caught Him, Saved him 
 From Being Stunned against The Wall, And, Before The Greek Could 
 Recover Sufficiently To Use Heels And Teeth Or Whisk Out The Knife He 
 Kept Groping For, Hurled him A Stage Farther On His Journey--Face 
 Forward This Time Down To Where Fred and I Were Waiting.  We Kicked him 
 Out Into The Street Too Dazed to Do Anything But Wander Home. 
   
   
 "Are You Hurt, Will?" Laughed monty.  "This Isn'T The States, You Know; 
  By Gad, They'Ll Jail You Here If You Do Your Own Police Work!  Instead 
 Of Brussels I'D Have Had To Stay And Hire Lawyers To Defend You!" 
   
   
 "Aw--Quit Preaching!" Yerkes Answered.  "If I Hadn'T Seen You There On 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 48 
 The Stairs With Your Mouth Open I'D Have Been Satisfied to Put Him Down 
 And Spank Him!" 
   
   
 It Was Then That The Much More Unexpected struck Us Speechless--Even 
 Monty For The Moment, Who Is Not Much Given To Social Indecision.  We 
 Had Not Known There Was A Woman Guest In that Hotel.  One Does Not Look 
 In Zanzibar For Ladies With A Mayfair Accent Unaccompanied by Menfolk 
 Able To Protect Them.  Yet An Indubitable Englishwoman, Expensively If 
 Carelessly Dressed, Came To The Head Of The Stairs And Stood Beside 
 Yerkes Looking Down At The Rest Of Us With A Sort Of Well Bred, Rather 
 Tolerant Scorn. 
   
   
 "Am I Right In believing This Is Lord Montdidier?" She Asked, 
 Pronouncing The Word As It Should Be--Mundidger. 
   
   
 She Had Been Very Beautiful.  She Still Was Handsome In a Hard-Lipped, 
 Bold Way, With Abundant Raven Hair And A Complexion That Would Have 
 Been No Worse For A Touch Of Rouge.  She Seemed to Scorn All The 
 Conventional Refinements, Though.  Her Lacy White Dress, Open At The 
 Neck, Was Creased and Not Too Clean, But She Wore In her Bosom One 
 Great Jewel Like A Ruby, Set In brilliants, That Gave The Lie To 
 Poverty Provided the Gems Were Real.  And The Amber Tube Through Which 
 She Smoked a Cigarette Was Seven Or Eight Inches Long And Had Diamonds 
 Set In a Gold Band Round Its Middle.  She Wore No Wedding Ring That I 
 Could See;  And She Took No More Notice Of Will Yerkes Beside Her Than 
 If He Had Been A Part Of The Furniture. 
   
   
 "Why Do You Ask?" Asked monty, Starting Upstairs.  She Had To Make Way 
 For Him, For Will Yerkes Stood His Ground. 
   
   
 "A Fair Question!" She Laughed.  Her Voice Had A Hard Ring, But Was 
 Very Well Trained and Under Absolute Control.  I Received the 
 Impression That She Had Been A Singer At Some Time.  "I Am Lady Saffren 
 Waldon--Isobel Saffren Waldon." 
   
   
 Fred and I Had Followed monty Up And Were Close Behind Him.  I Heard 
 Him Mutter, "Oh, Lord!" Under His Breath. 
   
   
 "I Knew Your Brother," She Added. 
   
   
 "I Know You Did." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 49 
 "You Think That Gives Me No Claim On Your Acquaintance?  Perhaps It 
 Doesn'T.  But As An Unprotected woman--" 
   
   
 "There Is The Residency," Objected monty, "And The Law." 
   
   
 She Laughed bitterly.  "Thank You, I Am In need of No Passage Home!  I 
 Overheard That Ruffian Say, And I Think I Heard You Say Too That You 
 Are Going To England.  I Want You To Take A Message For Me." 
   
   
 There Is A Post-Office Here" Said Monty Without Turning a Hair.  He 
 Looked straight Into Her Iron Eyes.  "There Is A Cable Station.  I Will 
 Lend You Money To Cable With." 
   
   
 "Thank You, My Lord!" She Sneered.  "I Have Money.  I Am So Used to 
 Being Snubbed that My Skin Would Not Feel A Whip!  I Want You To Take A 
 Verbal Message!" 
   
   
 It Was Perfectly Evident That Monty Would Rather Have Met The Devil In 
 Person Than This Untidy Dame;  Yet He Was Only Afraid Apparently Of 
 Conceding Her Too Much Claim On His Attention.  (If She Had Asked 
 Favors Of Me I Don'T Doubt I Would Have Scrambled to Be Useful.  I 
 Began Mentally Taking Her Part, Wondering Why Monty Should Treat Her So 
 Cavalierly;  And I Fancy Yerkes Did The Same.) 
   
   
 "Tell Me The Message, And I'Ll Tell You Whether I'Ll Take It," Said 
 Monty. 
   
   
 She Laughed again, Even More Bitterly. 
   
   
 "If I Could Tell It On These Stairs," She Answered, "I Could Cable It. 
 They Censor Cablegrams, And Open Letters In this Place." 
   
   
 "I Suspect That Isn'T True," Said Monty.  "But If You Object To 
 Witnesses, How Do You Propose To Deliver Your Message To Me?" He Asked 
 Pointedly. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 50 
 "You Mean You Refuse To Speak With Me Alone?" 
   
   
 "My Friends Would Draw Out Of Earshot," He Answered. 
   
   
 "Your Friends?  Your Gang, You Mean!"  She Drew Herself Up Very 
 Finely--Very Stately.  Very Lovely She Was To Look At In that 
 Half-Light, With The Shadows Of Tippoo Tib'S* Old Stairway Hiding Her 
 Tale Of Years.  But I Felt My Regard For Her Slipping Downhill (And So, 
 I Rather Think Did Yerkes).  "You Look Well, Lord Montdidier, Trapesing 
 About The Earth With A Leash Of Mongrels At Your Heel!  Falstaff Never 
 Picked up A More Sordid-Looking Pack!  What Do You Feed them--Bones? 
 Are There No Young Bloods Left Of Your Own Class, That You Need travel 
 With Tradesmen?" 
   
   
 ------------- 
 * The Principal Hotel In zanzibar Was Formerly Tippoo Tib'S Residence, 
 Quite A Magnificent Mansion For That Period And Place. 
 ------------- 
   
   
 Monty Stood With Both Hands Behind Him And Never Turned a Hair.  Fred 
 Oakes Brushed up The Ends Of That Troubadour Mustache Of His And Struck 
 More Or Less Of An Attitude.  Will Reddened to The Ears, And I Never 
 Felt More Uncomfortable In all My Life. 
   
   
 "So This Is Your Gang, Is It?" She Went On.  "It Looks Sober At 
 Present!  I Suppose I Must Trust You To Control Them!  I Dare Say Even 
 Tavern Brawlers Respect You Sufficiently To Keep A Lady'S Secret If You 
 Order Them.  I Will Hope They Have Manhood Enough To Hold Their 
 Tongues!" 
   
   
 Of Course, Dressed in the Best That Zanzibar Stores Had To Offer We 
 Scarcely Looked like Fashion Plates.  My Shirt Was Torn Where Coutlass 
 Had Seized it To Resist Being Thrown Out, But I Failed to See What She 
 Hoped to Gain By That Tongue Lashing, Even Supposing We Had Been The 
 Lackeys She Pretended to Believe We Were. 
   
   
 "The Message Is To My Brother," She Went On. 
   
   
 "I Don'T Know Him!" Put In monty Promptly. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 51 
 "You Mean You Don'T Like Him!  Your Brother Had Him Expelled from Two 
 Or Three Clubs, And You Prefer Not To Meet Him!  Nevertheless, I Give 
 You This Message To Take To Him!  Please Tell Him--You Will Find Him At 
 His Old Address--That I, His Sister, Lady Saffren Waldon, Know Now The 
 Secret Of Tippoo Tib'S Ivory.  He Is To Join Me Here At Once, And We 
 Will Get It, And Sell It, And Have Money, And Revenge!  Will You Tell 
 Him That!" 
   
   
 "No!" Answered monty. 
   
   
 I Looked at Yerkes, Yerkes Looked at Fred, And Fred at Me. 
   
   
 There Was Nothing To Do But Feel Astonished. 
   
   
 "Why Not, If You Please?" 
   
   
 "I Prefer Not To Meet Captain Mccauley," Said Monty. 
   
   
 "Then You Will Give The Message To Somebody Else?" She Insisted. 
   
   
 "No" Said Monty. "I Will Carry No Message For You." 
   
   
 "Why Do You Say That?  How Dare You Say That?  In front Of Your 
 Following--Your Gang!" 
   
   
 I Should Have Been Inclined to Continue The Argument Myself--To Try To 
 Find Out What She Did Know, And To Uncover Her Game.  It Was Obvious 
 She Must Have Some Reason For Her Extraordinary Request, And Her More 
 Extraordinary Way Of Making It.  But Monty Saw Fit To Stride Past Her 
 Through His Open Bedroom Door, And Shut It Behind Him Firmly.  We Stood 
 Looking at Her And At One Another Stupidly Until She Turned her Back 
 And Went To Her Own Room On The Floor Above.  Then We Followed monty. 
   
   
 "Did She Say Anything Else?" He Asked as Soon As We Were Inside.  I 
 Noticed he Was Sweating Pretty Freely Now. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 52 
 "Didums, You'Re Too Polite!" Fred answered.  "You Ought To Have Told 
 Her To Keep Her Tongue Housed or Be Civil!" 
   
   
 "I Don'T Hold With Hitting Back At A Lone Woman," Said Yerkes, "But 
 What Was She Driving at?  What Did She Mean By Calling Us A Pack Of 
 Mongrels?" 
   
   
 "Merely Her Way," Said Monty Offhandedly.  "Those Particular Mccauleys 
 Never Amounted to Much.  She Married a Baronet, And He Divorced her. 
 Bad Scandal.  Saffren Waldon Was At The War Office.  She Stole Papers, 
 Or Something Of That Sort--Delivered them To A German Paramour--Von 
 Duvitz Was His Name, I Think.  She And Her Brother Were Lucky To Keep 
 Out Of Jail.  Ever Since Then She Has Been--Some Say A Spy, Some Say 
 One Thing, Some Another.  My Brother Fell Foul Of Her, And Lived to 
 Regret It.  She'S On Her Last Legs I Don'T Doubt, Or She Wouldn'T Be In 
 Zanzibar." 
   
   
 "Then Why The Obvious Nervous Sweat You'Re In?" Demanded fred. 
   
   
 "And That Doesn'T Account For The Abuse She Handed out To Us," Said 
 Yerkes. 
   
   
 "Why Not Tip Off The Authorities That She'S A Notorious Spy?" I Asked. 
   
   
 "I Suspect They Know All About Her," He Answered. 
   
   
 "But Why Your Alarm?" Insisted fred. 
   
   
 "I'M Scarcely Alarmed, Old Thing.  But It'S Pretty Obvious, Isn'T It, 
 That She Wants Us To Believe She Knows What We'Re After.  She'S 
 Vindictive.  She Imagines She Owes Me A Grudge On My Brother'S Account. 
  It Might Soothe Her To Think She Had Made Me Nervous.  And By Gad--It 
 Sounds Like Lunacy, And Mind You I'M Not Propounding It For 
 Fact!--There'S Just One Chance That She Really Does Know Where The 
 Ivory Is!" 
   
   
 "But Where'S The Sense Of Abusing Us?" Repeated yerkes. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 53 
 "That'S The Poor Thing'S Way Of Claiming Class Superiority," Said 
 Monty. "She Was Born Into One Class, Married into Another, And Divorced 
 Into A Third.  She'D Likely To Forget She Said An Unkind Word The Next 
 Time She Meets You.  Give Her One Chance And She'Ll Pretend She 
 Believes You Were Born To The Purple--Flatter You Until You Half 
 Believe It Yourself.  Later On, When It Suits Her At The Moment, She'Ll 
 Denounce You As A Social Impostor!  It'S Just Habit--Bad Habit, I 
 Admit--Comes Of The Life She Leads.  Lots Of 'Em Like Her.  Few Of 'Em 
 Quite So Well Informed, Though, And Dangerous If You Give 'Em A Chance." 
   
   
 "I Still Don'T See Why You'Re Sweating," Said Fred. 
   
   
 "It'S Hot.  There'S A Chance She Knows Where The Ivory Is!  She Has 
 Money, But How?  She'D Have Begged if She Were Short Of Cash!  It'S My 
 Impression She Has Been In german Government Employ For A Number Of 
 Years.  Possibly They Have Paid Her To Do Some Spy-Work--In The 
 Zanzibar Court, Perhaps--The Sultan'S A Mere Boy--" 
   
   
 "Isn'T He Woolly-Headed?" Objected yerkes. 
   
   
 "Mainly Arab.  It'S A French Game To Send A White Woman To Intrigue At 
 Colored courts, But The Germans Are Good Imitators." 
   
   
 "Isn'T She English?" Asked yerkes. 
   
   
 "Her Trade'S International," Said Monty Dryly. "My Guess Is That 
 Coutlass Or Hassan Told Her What We'Re Supposed to Be Doing Here, And 
 She Pretends To Know Where The Ivory Is In order To Trap Us All In some 
 Way.  The Net'S Spread For Me, But There'S No Objection To Catching You 
 Fellows As Well." 
   
   
 "She'Ll Need to Use Sweeter Bait Than I'Ve Seen Yet!" Laughed yerkes. 
   
   
 "She'Ll Probably Be Sweetness Itself Next Time She Sees You.  She'Ll 
 Argue She'S Created an Impression And Can Afford To Be Gracious." 
   
   
 "Impression Is Good!" Said Yerkes. "I Mean It'S Bad!  She Has Created 
 One, All Right!  What'S The Likelihood Of Her Having Double-Crossed the 
 Germans?  Mightn'T She Have Got A Clue To Where The Stuff Is, And Be 
 Holding For A Better Market Than They Offer?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 54 
 "I Was Coming To That," Said Monty.  "Yes, It'S Possible.  But Whatever 
 Her Game Is, Don'T Let Us Play It For Her.  Let Her Do The Leading.  If 
 She Gets Hold Of You Fellows, One At A Time Or All Together, For The 
 Love Of Heaven Tell Her Nothing!  Let Her Tell All She Likes, But Admit 
 Nothing--Tell Nothing--Ask No Questions!  That'S An Old Rule In 
 Diplomacy (And Remember, She'S A Diplomat, Whatever Else She May Be!) 
 Old-Stagers Can Divine The Young Ones' Secrets From The Nature Of The 
 Questions They Ask!  So If You Got The Chance, Ask Her Nothing!  Don'T 
 Lie, Either!  It Would Take A Very Old Hand To Lie To Her In such Way 
 That She Couldn'T See Through It!" 
   
   
 "Why Not Be Simply Rude And Turn Our Backs?" Said I. 
   
   
 "Best Of All--Provided you Can Do It!  Remember, She'S A Old Hand!" 
   
   
 "D'You Mean," Said Yerkes, "That If She Were To Offer Proof That She 
 Knows Where That Ivory Is, And Proposed terms, You Wouldn'T Talk It 
 Over?" 
   
   
 "I Mean Let Her Alone!" Said Monty. 
   
   
 But It Turned out She Would Not Be Let Alone.  We Dine In the Public 
 Room, But She Had Her Meals Sent Up To Her And We Flattered ourselves 
 (Or I Did) That Her Net Had Been Laid In vain. Folk Dine Late In the 
 Tropics, And We Dallied over Coffee And Cigars, So That It Was Going On 
 For Ten O'Clock When Yerkes And I Started upstairs Again.  Monty And 
 Fred went Out To See The Waterfront By Moonlight. 
   
   
 We Had Reached our Door (He And I Shared one Great Room) When We Heard 
 Terrific Screams From The Floor Above--A Woman'S--One After Another, 
 Piercing, Fearful, Hair-Raising, And So Suggestive In that Gloomy, Grim 
 Building That A Man'S Very Blood Stood Still. 
   
   
 Yerkes Was The First Upstairs.  He Went Like An Arrow From A Bow, And I 
 After Him.  The Screams Had Stopped before We Reached the Stairhead, 
 But There Was No Doubting Which Her Room Was;  The Door Was Partly 
 Open, Permitting a View Of Armchairs And Feminine Garments In some 
 Disorder.  We Heard A Man Talking Loud Quick Arabic, And A 
 Woman--Pleading, I Thought.  Yerkes Rapped on The Door. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 55 
 "Come In!" Said A Voice, And I Followed yerkes In. 
   
   
 We Were Met By Her Syrian Maid, A Creature With Gazelle Eyes And Timid 
 Manner, Who Came Through The Doorway Leading To An Inner Room. 
   
   
 "What'S The Trouble?" Demanded yerkes, And The Woman Signed to Us To Go 
 On In.  Yerkes Led the Way Again Impulsively As Any Knight-Errant 
 Rescuing Beleaguered dames, But I Looked back And Saw That The Syrian 
 Woman Had Locked the Outer Door.  Before I Could Tell Will That, He Was 
 In The Next Room, So I Followed, And, Like Him, Stood Rather Bewildered. 
   
   
 Lady Saffren Waldon Sat Facing Us, Rather Triumphant, In no Apparent 
 Trouble, Not Alone.  There Were Four Very Well-Dressed arabs Standing 
 To One Side.  She Sat In a Basket Chair By A Door That Pretty Obviously 
 Led into Her Bedroom;  And Kept One Foot On A Pillow, Although I 
 Suspected there Was Not Much The Matter With It. 
   
   
   
 "We Heard Screams.  Thought You Were Being Murdered!" Said Yerkes, Out 
 Of Breath. 
   
   
 "Oh, Indeed, No!  Nothing Of The Kind!  I Fell And Twisted my 
 Ankle--Very Painful, But Not Serious.  Since You Are Here, Sit Down, 
 Won'T You?" 
   
   
 "No, Thanks," Said He, Turning To Go. 
   
   
 "The Maid Locked the Door On Us!" Said I, And Before The Words Were Out 
 Of My Mouth Three Of The Arabs Slipped into The Outer Room.  There Was 
 No Hint Or Display Of Weapons Of Any Kind, But They Were Big Men, And 
 The Folds Of Their Garments Were Sufficiently Voluminous To Have Hidden 
 A Dozen Guns Apiece. 
   
   
 "She'Ll Open It!" Said Will, With Inflection That A Fool Could 
 Understand. 
   
   
 "One Minute, Please!" Said Lady Saffren Waldon.  (It Was No Poor 
 Imitation Of Queen Elizabeth Ordering Courtiers About.) 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 56 
 "We Didn'T Come To Talk," Said Will. "Heard Screams.  Made A Mistake. 
 Sorry. We'Re Off!" 
   
   
 "No Mistake!" She Said;  And The Sweetness Monty Prophesied began To 
 Show Itself.  The Change In her Voice Was Too Swift And Pronounced to 
 Be Convincing.  "I Did Scream.  I Was, In pain.  It Was Kind Of You To 
 Come.  Since You Are Here I Would Like You To Talk To This Gentleman." 
   
   
 She Glanced at The Arab, An Able-Looking Man, With Nose And Eyes 
 Expressive Of Keen Thought, And The Groomed gray Beard That Makes An 
 Arab Always Dignified. 
   
   
 "Some Other Time," Said Will. "I'Ve An Engagement!"  And He Turned to 
 Go Again. 
   
   
 "No--Now!" She Said.  "It'S No Use--You Can'T Get Out! You May As Well 
 Be Sensible And Listen!" 
   
   
 We Glanced at Each Other And Both Remembered monty'S Warning.  Will 
 Laughed. 
   
   
 "Take Seats," She Said, With A Very Regal Gesture.  She Was Not 
 Carelessly Dressed, As She Had Been Earlier In the Day.  From Hair To 
 Silken Hose And White Kid Shoes She Was Immaculate, And She Wore Rouge 
 And Powder Now.  In that Yellow Lamplight (Carefully Placed, No Doubt) 
 She Was Certainly Good-Looking.  In fact, She Was Good-Looking at Any 
 Time, And Only No Longer Able To Face Daylight With The Tale Of Youth. 
 Her Eyes Were Weapons, Nothing Less.  We Remained standing. 
   
   
 "This Gentleman Will Speak To You," She Said, Motioning To The Arab To 
 Commence, And He Bowed--From The Shoulders Upward. 
   
   
 "I Am From His Highness The Sultan Of Zanzibar" He Announced, A Little 
 Pompously.  "A Minister From His Highness."  (In Announcing Their Own 
 Importance Arabs Very Seldom Err In the Direction Of Under-Estimate.) 
 "I Speak About The Ivory, Which I Am Informed you Propose To Set Out On 
 A Journey To Discover." 
   
   
 "Where Did You Get Your Information?" Yerkes Countered. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 57 
 "Don'T Be Absurd!" Ordered lady Safrren Waldon.  "I Gave It To Him! 
 Where Else Need he Go To Get It?" 
   
   
 "Where Did You Get It, Then?" He Retorted. 
   
   
 "Never Mind!  Listen To What Hamed ibrahim Has To Say!" 
   
   
 The Arab Bowed his Bead Slightly A Second Time. 
   
   
 "The Ivory You Seek," He Said, "Is Said To Be Tippoo Tib'S Own, And He 
 Will Not Tell The Hiding-Places.  It Does Not Belong To Him.  Such 
 Little Part Of It As Ever Was His Was Long Ago Swallowed by The 
 Interest On Claims Against Him.  The Whole Is Now In truth The Property 
 Of His Highness The Sultan Of Zanzibar, And Whoever Discovers It Shall 
 Receive Reward From The Owner.  His Highness Is Willing, Through Me His 
 Minister, To Make Treaty In advance In writing With Suitable Parties 
 Intending To Make Search." 
   
   
 "You Mean The Sultan Wants To Hire Me To Hunt For Ivory For Him?"  Will 
 Asked, And The Arab Made A Gesture Of Impatience.  At That Lady Saffren 
 Waldon Cut In, Very Vinegary Once More. 
   
   
 "You Two Men Are Prisoners!  Show Much More Sense!  Come To Terms Or 
 Take The Consequences!  Listen!  Tippoo Tib Buried the Ivory.  The 
 Sultan Of Zanzibar Claims It.  The German Government, For Reasons Of 
 Its Own, Backs The Sultan'S Claim;  Ivory Found In german East Africa 
 Will Be Handed over To Him In support Of His Claim To All The Rest Of 
 It.  If You--Lord Montdidier And The Rest Of You--Care To Sign An 
 Agreement With The Sultan Of Zanzibar You Can Have Facilities.  You 
 Shall Be Supplied with Guides Who Can Lead You To The Right Place To 
 Start Your Search From--" 
   
   
 "Thought You Wanted lord Montdidier To Say In london That You Know 
 Where It All Is," Will Objected. 
   
   
 She Colored slightly, And Glared. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 58 
 "Perhaps I Am One Of The Guides," She Said Darkly.  "I Know More Than I 
 Need tell For The Sake Of This Argument!  The Point Is, You Can Have 
 Facilities If You Sign An Agreement With The Sultan.  Otherwise, You 
 Will Be Dogged wherever You Go!  Whatever You Should Find Would Be 
 Claimed!  Every Difficulty Will Be Made For You--Every Treachery 
 Conceivable Practised on You.  Lord Montdidier Can Get Influential 
 Backing, But Not Influence Among The Natives!  He Can Not Get Good Men 
 And True Information By Pulling Wires In london.  The British 
 Government Once Offered ten Per Cent. Of The Value Of The Ivory Found. 
 The Sultan Of Zanzibar Offers Twenty Per Cent.--" 
   
   
 "Twenty-Five Per Cent.," Corrected hamed ibrahim. 
   
   
 "Yes, But I Should Want Five Per Cent. For My Commission!" 
   
   
 "This Sounds Like A Different Yarn To The One You Told On The Stairs 
 This Afternoon," Said Will. "See Monty And Tell It To Him." 
   
   
 "It Is For You To Tell Lord Montdidier.  He Runs Away From Me!" 
   
   
 "I Refuse To Tell Him A Word!" Said Will, With A Laugh Like That Of A 
 Boy About To Plunge Into A Swimming Pool--Sort Of "Here Goes!" 
   
   
 "You Are Extremely Ill Advised!" 
   
   
 "Do Your Worst!  Monty'Ll Be Hunting For Us Two In about A Minute. 
 We'Re Prisoners, Are We?  Suit Yourself!" 
   
   
 "You Are Prisoners While I Choose!  You Could Be Killed in this Room, 
 Removed in sacks, Thrown To The Sharks In the Roadstead, And Nobody The 
 Wiser!  But I Have No Intention Of Killing You.  As It Happens, That 
 Would Not Suit My Purpose!" 
   
   
 We Both Glanced behind Us Involuntarily.  It May Be That We Both Heard 
 A Footstep, But It Is Always Difficult To Say Certainly After The 
 Event.  At Any Rate, While In the Act Of Turning Our Heads, Two Of The 
 Three Arabs, Who Had Previously Left The Room, Threw Nooses Over Them 
 And Bound Our Arms To Our Sides With The Jiffy-Swiftness Only Sailors 
 Know.  The Third Man Put The Finishing Touches, And Presently Adjusted 
 Gags With A Neatness And Solicitude Worthy Of The Inquisition. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 59 
 "Throw Them!" She Ordered, And In a Second Our Heels Were Struck From 
 Under Us And I Was Half Stunned by The Impact Of My Head Against The 
 Solid Floor (For All The Floors Of That Great Place Were Built To 
 Resist Eternity). 
   
   
 "Now!" She Said. "Show Them Knives!" 
   
   
 We Were Shown Forthwith The Ugliest, Most Suggestive Weapons I Have 
 Ever Seen--Long Sliver-Thin Blades Sharper Than Razors.  The Arabs 
 Knelt On Our Chests (Their Knees Were Harder And More Merciless Than 
 Wooden Clubs) And Laid The Blades, Edge-Upward, On The Skin Of Our 
 Throats. 
   
   
 "Let Them Feel!" She Ordered. 
   
   
 I Felt A Sharp Cut, And The Warm Blood Trickled down Over My Jugular To 
 The Floor.  I Knew It Was Only A Skin-Cut, But Did Not Pretend To 
 Myself I Was Enjoying The Ordeal. 
   
   
 "Now!" She Said. 
   
   
 The Arabs Stepped away And She Came And Stood Between Us, Looking Down 
 At One And Then The Other. 
   
   
 "There Isn'T A Place In africa," She Said, "That You Can Hide In where 
 The Sultan'S Men Can'T Find You!  There Isn'T A British Officer In 
 Africa Who Would Believe You If You Told What Has Happened in this Room 
 Tonight!  Yet Lord Montdidier Will Believe You--He Knows You 
 Presumably, And Certainly He Knows Me!  So Tell Lord Montdidier Exactly 
 What Has Happened!  Assure Him With My Compliments That His Throat And 
 Yours Shall Be Cut As Surely As You Dare Set Out After That Ivory 
 Without Signing My Agreement First.  Tell Lord Montdidier He May Be 
 Friends With Me If He Cares To.  As His Friend I Will Help Make Him 
 Rich For Life!  As His Enemy, I Will Make Africa Too Hot And Dangerous 
 To Hold Him!  Let Him Choose!" 
   
   
 She Stepped back And, Without Troubling To Turn Away, Put Powder On Her 
 Nose And Chin. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 60 
 "Now Let Them Up!" She Said. 
   
   
 The Arabs Lifted us To Our Feet. 
   
   
 "Loose Them!" 
   
   
 The Expert Of The Three Slipped the Knots Like A Wizard Doing Parlor 
 Tricks;  But I Noticed that The Other Two Held Their Knives Extremely 
 Cautiously.  We Should Have Been Dead Men If We Had Made A Pugnacious 
 Motion. 
   
   
 "Now You May Go!  Unless Lord Montdidier Agrees With Me, The Only 
 Safety For Any Of You Is Away From Africa!  Go And Tell Him!  Go!" 
   
   
 "I'Ll Give You Your Answer Now!" Said Will. 
   
   
 "No, You Don'T!" Said I, Remembering Monty'S Urgent Admonition To Tell 
 Her Nothing and Ask No Questions.  "Come Away, Will!  There'S Nothing 
 To Be Gained by Talking Back!" 
   
   
 "Right You Are!" He Said, Laughing Like A Boy Again--This Time Like A 
 Boy Whose Fight Has Been Broken Off Without His Seeking Or Consent. 
 Like Me, He Pulled out A Handkerchief And Wiped blood From His Neck. 
 The Sight Of His Own Blood--Even Such A Little Trickle As That--Has 
 Peculiar Effect An A Man. 
   
   
 "By Jiminy, She Has Scratched the Wrong Dog'S Ear!" He Growled to Me As 
 We Went To The Door Together. 
   
   
 "They'Re All In there!" I Said Excitedly, When The Door Slammed shut 
 Behind Us.  "Hurry Down And Get Me A Gun!  I'Ll Hold The Door While You 
 Run For Police And Have 'Em L Arrested!" 
   
   
 "Piffle!" He Said.  "Come On!  Three Sultan'S Witnesses And Two Lone 
 White Women Against Us Two--Come Away!  Come Away!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 61 
 Monty And Fred were Still Out, So We Went To Our Own Room. 
   
   
 "I'M Wondering," I Said, "What Monty Will Say." 
   
   
 "I'M Not!" Said Will.  "I'M Not Troubling, Either!  I'M Not Going To 
 Tell Monty A Blessed word!  See Here--She Thinks She Knows Where Some 
 O' That Ivory Is.  Maybe The Government Of German East Africa Is In on 
 The Deal, And Maybe Not;  That Makes No Present Difference.  She Thinks 
 She'S Wise.  And She Has Fixed up With The Sultan To Have Him Claim It 
 When Found, So'S She'Ll Get A Fat Slice Of The Melon.  There'S A Scheme 
 On To Get The Stuff, When Who Should Come On The Scene But Our Little 
 Party, And That Makes 'Em All Nervous, 'Cause Monty'S A Bad Man To Be 
 Up Against.  Remember:  She Claimed that She Knows Monty And He Knows 
 Her.  She Means By That That He Knows She'S A Desperado, And She Thinks 
 He'Ll Draw The Line At A Trip That Promises Murder And Blackmail And 
 Such Like Dirty Work.  So She Puts A Scare Into Us With A View To Our 
 Throwing a Scare Into Him.  If I Scare Any One, It'S Going To Be That 
 Dame Herself.  I'Ll Not Tell Monty A Thing!" 
   
   
 "How About Coutlass The Greek?" Said I. "D'You Suppose He'S Her 
 Accomplice?" 
   
   
 "Maybe!  One Of Her Dupes Perhaps!  I Suspect She'Ll Suck Him Dry Of 
 Information And Cast Him Off Like A Lemon Rind.  I Dare Bet She'S Using 
 Him.  She Can'T Use Me!  Shall You Tell Monty?" 
   
   
 "No," I Said.  "Not Unless We Both Agreed." 
   
   
 He Nodded.  "You And I Weren'T Born To What They Call The Purple. 
 We'Re No Diplomatists;  But We Get Each Other'S Meaning." 
   
   
 "Here Come Monty And Fred," Said I.  "Is My Neck Still Bloody?  No, 
 Yours Doesn'T Show." 
   
   
 We Met Them At The Stairhead, And Monty Did Not Seem To Notice Anything. 
   
   
 "Fred has Composed a Song To The Moonlight On Zanzibar Roadstead While 
 You Fellows Were Merely After-Dinner Mundane.  D'You Suppose The 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 62 
 Landlord 'Ud Make Trouble If We Let Him Sing It?" 
   
   
 "Let'S Hope So!" Said Will.  "I'M Itching For A Row Like They Say 
 Drovers In monty'S Country Itch For Mile-Stones!  Let Fred warble. 
 I'Ll Fight Whoever Comes!" 
   
   
 Monty Eyed him And Me Swiftly, But Made No Comment. 
   
   
 "Bill'S Homesick!" Said Fred.  "The U. S. Eagle Wants Its Bowery! 
 We'Ll Soothe The Fowl With Thoughts Of Other Things--Where'S The 
 Concertina?" 
   
   
 "No, No, Fred, That'Ll Be Too Much Din!" 
   
   
 Monty Made A Grab For The Instrument, But Fred raised it Above His Head 
 And Brought It Down Between His Knees With Chords That Crashed like 
 Wedding Bells.  Then He Changed to Softer, Languorous Music, And When 
 He Had Picked out An Air To Suit His Mood, Sat Down And Turned art 
 Loose To Do Her Worst. 
   
   
 He Has A Good Voice.  If He Would Only Not Pull Such Faces, Or Make So 
 Sure That Folk Within A Dozen Blocks Can Hear Him, He Might Pass For A 
 Professional. 
   
   
 "Music Suggestive Of Moonlight!" He Said, And Began: 
   
   
         "The Sentry Palms Stand Motionless. Masts Move Against 
 The Sky. 
         With Measured creak Of Curving Spars Dhows Gently To The 
                 Jeweled stars 
         Rock Out A Lullaby. 
   
   
         "Silver And Black Sleeps Zanzibar. The Moonlit Ripples 
 Croon 
         Soft Songs Of Loves That Perfect Are, Long Tales Of Red- 
         Lipped spoils Of War, 
         And You--You Smile, You Moon! 
         For I Think That Beam On The Placid Sea 
         That Splashes, And Spreads, And Dips, And Gleams, 
         That Dances And Glides Till It Comes To Me 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 63 
         Out Of Infinite Sky, Is The Path Of Dreams, 
         And Down That Lane The Memories Run 
         Of All That'S Wild Beneath The Sun!" 
   
   
 "You Fellows Like That One?  Anybody Coming?  Nobody For Will To Fight 
 Yet?  Too Bad!  Well--We'Ll Try A-Gain!  There'S No Chorus.  It'S All 
 Poetic Stuff, Too Gentle To Be Yowled by Three Such Cannibals As You! 
 Listen! 
   
   
         "Old As The Moonlit Silences, To-Night'S Loves Are The 
 Same 
         As When For Ivory From Far, And Cloves And Gems Of 
 Zanzibar 
         King Solomon'S Men Came. 
   
   
         "Sinful And Still The Same Roofs Lie That Knew Da Gama'S 
         Heel, 
         Those Beams That Light These Sleepy Waves Looked on When 
 Men Threw Murdered slaves 
         To Make The Sharks A Meal. 
         And I Think That Beam On The Silvered swell 
         That Spreads, And Splashes, And Gleams, And Dips, 
         That Has Shone On The Cruel And Brave As Well, 
         On The Trail O' The Slaves And The Ivory Ships, 
         Is The Lane Down Which The Memories Run 
         Of All That'S Wild Beneath The Sun." 
   
   
 The Concertina Wailed into A Sort Of Minor Dirge And Ceased.  Fred 
 Fastened the Catch, And Put The Instrument Away. 
   
   
 "Why Don'T You Applaud?" He Asked. 
   
   
 "Oh, Bravo, Bravo!" Said Will And I Together. 
   
   
 Monty Looked hard At Both Of Us. 
   
   
 "Strange!" He Remarked.  "You'Re Both Distracted, And You'Ve Each Got A 
 Slight Cut Over The Jugular!" 
   
   
 "Been Trying Out Razors," Said Yerkes. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 2 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 64 
 "Um-M-M!" Remarked monty. "Well--I'M Glad It'S No Worse.  How About 
 Bed, Eh?  Better Lock Your Door--That Lady Up-Stairs Is What The 
 Germans Call Gefaehrlich!*  Goo'Night!" 
   
   
 ----------- 
 * Gefaehrlich, Dangerous. 
 ----------- 
   
   
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 65 
 Tongues!  Oh, Music Of Eastern Tongues, Harmonied murmur 
         Of Streets Ahum! 
 Trade!  Oh, Frasila Weights Of Clove--Ivory--Copra--Copal 
         Gum-- 
 Rubber--Vanilla And Tortoise-Shell!  The Methods Change. 
         The Captains Come. 
   
   
         I Was Old When The Clamor O' Babel'S End 
         (All Seas Were Chartless Then!) 
         Drove Forth The Brood, And Solitude 
         Was The Newest Quest Of Men. 
         I Lay Like A Gem In a Silken Sea 
         Unseen, Uncoveted, Unguessed 
         Till Scented winds That Waft Afar 
         Bore Word O' The Warm Delights There Are 
         Where Ground-Swells Sing By Zanzibar 
         Long Rhapsodies Of Rest. 
   
   
 Wild, Oh Wilder Than Winter Blasts My Wet Skies Shriek When 
         The Winds Are Freed. 
 Mild, Oh Milder Than Virgin Mirth Is The Laugh O' The Reefs 
         Where Sea-Birds Feed, 
 Screaming and Skirling and Down Again. (Though The Sea 
         -Birds Warn Do Captains Heed?) 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 66 
 There Is No Public Landing Wharf At Zanzibar.  Passengers Have To 
 Submit Their Persons Into The Arms Of Loud-Lunged swahili Longshoremen, 
 Who Recognize One Sole And Only Point Of Honor:  Neither Passenger Nor 
 Luggage Shall Be Dropped into The Surf. 
   
   
 Their Invariable Habit, The Instant The View-Halloa Is Raised, Is To 
 Scamper Headlong, Pounce On The Victim And Pull Him Apart (Or So It 
 Feels) Until Fortune, Superior Strength, Or Some Such Element Decides 
 The Point;  And Then More Often 
 Than Not It Is The Victim'S Fate To Be Carried between Two Men, Each 
 Hold Of A Thigh, Each Determined to Get Ashore Or To The Boat First, 
 And Each Grimly Resolved not To Let Go Until Three Times The Proper Fee 
 Shall Have Been Paid.  Of Only These Two Things Let The Passenger 
 Assure Himself--Fight How He May, He Will Neither Escape Their Clutches 
 Nor Get Wet.  Rather They Will Hold Him Upside-Down Until The Contents 
 Of His Pockets Fall Into The Surf.  Dry On The Beach Or Into The Boat 
 They Will Dump Him.  And Whatever He Shall Pay Them Will Surely Be 
 Insufficient. 
   
   
 But We Had A Privy Councilor Of England Of Our Party, And Favors Were 
 Shown Us That Never Fall To The Lot Of Ordinary Travelers.  Opposite 
 The Sultan'S Palace Is The Sultan'S Private Wharf, So Royal And Private 
 That It Is A Prison Offense To Trespass On It Without Written 
 Permission.  Because Of His Official Call At The Residency, And Of His 
 Card Left On The Sultan, Wires Had Been Pulled, And A Pompous 
 Individual Whose Black Face Sweated greasily, And Whose Palm Itched for 
 Unearned increment, Called on Monty Very Shortly After Breakfast With 
 Intimation That The Wharf Had Been Placed at Our Disposal, Since His 
 Highness The Sultan Desired to Do Us Honor. 
   
   
 So When The B. I. Steamer Dropped anchor In the Great Roadstead Shortly 
 After Noon We Were Taken To The Wharf By One Of The Sultan'S 
 Household--A Very Civil-Spoken Arab Gentleman--And Three English 
 Officers Met Us There Who Made A Fuss Over Monty And Were At Pains To 
 Be Agreeable To The Rest Of Us.  While We Stood Chatting and Waiting 
 For The Boat That Should Row Us And Belongings The Mile-And-A-Half Or 
 So To The Steamer, I Saw Something That Made Me Start.  Fred gazed 
 Presently In the Same Direction. 
   
   
 "Johnson Is Number One!" He Said, As If Checking Off My Mental 
 Processes.  He Meant Hassan.  "Number Two Is Georges Coutlass, Our 
 Friend The Greek.  Number Three Is--Am I Drunk This Early In the 
 Day?--What Do You See?--Doesn'T She Look To You Like?--By The Big Blind 
 God Of Men'S Mistakes It'S--Monty!  Didums, You Deaf Idiot, Look!  See!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 67 
 Coutlass The Greek, And Hassan, Reputed nephew Of Tippoo Tib, Were 
 Headed in one Boat Toward The Steamer, The Worse For The Handling, But 
 Right Side Up And No Angrier Than The Usual Passenger.  Following Them 
 Was Another Boat Containing a Motley Assortment Of Arabs And 
 Part-Arabs, Who Might, Or Might Not Be Associated with Them. 
   
   
 On The Beach Still, Surrounded yet By A Swarm Of Longshoremen Who 
 Yelled and Fought, Lady Isobel Saffren Waldon And Her Syrian Maid Stood 
 At Bay.  Her Two Swahili Men-Servants Were Overwhelmed and Already 
 Being Carried to A Boat.  Her Luggage Was Being Borne Helter-Skelter 
 After Them, And Another Boat Waited for Her Just Beyond The Belt Of 
 Surf, The Rowers Standing Up To Yell Encouragement At The Sweating Pack 
 That Dared not Close In on Its Victims.  Lady Isobel Saffren Waldon 
 Appeared to Have No Other Weapon Than A Parasol, But She Had Plainly 
 The Upper Hand. 
   
   
 "She Has A Way With Her With Natives," Said The Senior Officer Present. 
   
   
 "It'S A Pity," Said Monty.  "I Mean, One Scarcely Likes To Use This 
 Wharf And Watch That." 
   
   
 "Quite So.  Yet We Daren'T Accord Her Official Recognition.  She'D Be 
 Certain To Make Capital Out Of It.  We'Re Awfully Glad She'S Going. 
 The Residency Atmosphere Is One Huge Sigh Of Relief.  We Would Like To 
 Speed the Parting Guest, But It Mayn'T Be Done.  However, You'Ll Know 
 There Are Others Not So Particular.  I Imagine Her Friends Are Late For 
 The Appointment." 
   
   
 "Where'S She Going?" Asked monty. 
   
   
 "British East Africa." 
   
   
 "Mombasa?" 
   
   
 "And Then On.  She Has Drafts On A German Merchant In nairobi." 
   
   
 >From That Moment Until We Were Safely In our Quarters On The Steamer 
 Monty'S Attitude Became One Of Rigid Indifference Toward Her Or 
 Anything To Do With Her.  The British Officers Went Out To The Steamer 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 68 
 With Us, But All The Way Monty Only Talked of The Climate, Trade 
 Conditions, And The Other Subjects To Which Polite Conversation Of 
 Africa'S East Coast Is Limited.  Fred kept Nudging Him, But Monty Took 
 No Notice.  Yerkes Whispered to Fred.  Then I Heard Fred whisper To 
 Monty In one Of Those Raucous Asides That He Perfectly Well Knows Can 
 Be Heard By Everybody. 
   
   
 "Why Don'T You Ask 'Em About Her, You Ass?" 
   
   
 But Monty Refused to Rise.  He Talked of The Bowed and Ancient Slaves 
 Of Zanzibar, Who Refused in those Days To Be Set Free And Afforded 
 Prolific Ground For Attack On British Public Morals By People Whose 
 Business It Is To Abuse England For Her Peccadillos And Forget Her 
 Virtues.* 
   
   
 --------------- 
 * In 1914 There Were Still Thousands Of Slaves In german East, Although 
 The German Press And Public Were Ever Loudest In their Condemnation Of 
 British Conditions. 
 --------------- 
   
   
 We Reached the Ship, And Were Watching Our Piles Of Luggage Arrive Up 
 The Accommodation Ladder When The Solution Of Lady Isobel Saffren 
 Waldon'S Problem Appeared.  She Arrived alongside In the Official Boat 
 Of The German Consulate, A German Officer In white Uniform On Either 
 Hand, And The German Ensign At The Stern. 
   
   
 "Pretty Fair Impudence, Paying Official Honors To Our Undesirables, Yet 
 I Don'T See What We Can Do," Said The Senior From The Residency. 
   
   
 Yerkes Drew Me Aside. 
   
   
 "Did You Ever See Anything More Stupidly British?" He Demanded. 
   
   
 "It'S As Obvious As The Nose On Your Face That She'S Up To Some Game. 
 It'S As Plain As Twice Two That The Germans Are Backing Her Whether The 
 British Like It Or Not.  Look At Those Two Heinies Now!" 
   
   
 We Faced about And Watched them.  After Bowing Lady Waldon To Her 
 Cabin, They Approached our Party With Brazen Claim To Recognition--And 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 69 
 Received it.  They Were Met, And Spoken To Apparently As Cordially As 
 If Their Friendship Had Been Indisputable. 
   
   
 "Did You Ever See Anything To Beat It?  Why Not Kick 'Em Into The Sea? 
 Either That Woman'S A Crook Or She Isn'T.  If She Isn'T, Then The 
 British Have Treated her Shamefully, Turning Their Backs On Her.  But 
 We Know She Is A Crook!  And So Do They.  The Germans Know It, Too, And 
 They'Re Flaunting Her Under Official British Noses!  They'Re Using Her 
 To Start Something The British Won'T Like, And The British Know It! 
 Yet She'S Going To Be Allowed to Travel To British Territory On A 
 British Ship, And The Heinies Are Shaken Hands With!  If You Complained 
 To Monty I Bet He'D Say, 'Don'T Talk Fight Unless You Mean Fight!'" 
   
   
 "Monty Might Also Add, 'Don'T Talk-Fight!"' Said I. 
   
   
 "Oh, Rot!" Will Answered.  "British Individuals May Bridle A Bit, But 
 Their Government'Ll Shut Its Eyes Until Too Late, Whatever Happens! 
 You Mark My Words!" 
   
   
 We Strolled back Toward Our Party In great Discontent, I As Much As He, 
 Never Supposing There Was Another Country In the World That Could So 
 Deliberately Shut Its Eyes To Dog'S Work Until Absolutely Forced to 
 Interfere, By A Hair Not Quite Too Late. 
   
   
 Coutlass And Hassan Traveled second-Class--The Arab And Half-Arab 
 Contingent Third--And None Of Them Troubled us, At Present, Except That 
 Will Swore At Sight Of Coutlass Swaggering as If The Ship And Her 
 Contents Were All His. 
   
   
 "To Bear Him Brag You'D Believe The British Government Afraid Of Him!" 
 He Grumbled. 
   
   
 But An Immediate Problem Drove Coutlass Out Of Mind.  Lady Isobel 
 Saffren Waldon Had Been Given A Cabin In line-With Ours, At The End Of 
 Our Corridor.  Her Maid, And Her Two Swahili Servants Were Obliged to 
 Pass Our Doors To Get To Her Cabin At All.  As Nearly All Ships' Cabins 
 On Those Hot Routes Do, Ours Intercommunicated by A Metal Grill For 
 Ventilating Purposes, And A Word Spoken In one Cabin Above A Whisper 
 Could Be Heard In the Next. 
   
   
 Fred was The First To Realize Conditions.  He Opened his Door In his 
 Usual Abrupt Way To Visit Monty'S Cabin And Almost Fell Over The Syrian 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 70 
 Maid, Her Eye At Monty'S Key-Hole--A Little Too Early In the Game To 
 Pass For Sound Judgment, As Fred was At Pains To Assure Her. 
   
   
 The Alarm Being Given, We Locked our Cabin Doors, Repaired to The 
 Smoking-Room, And Ordered drinks At A Center Table Where No 
 Eavesdropper Could Overhear. 
   
   
 "It'S One Of Two Things," Said Monty.  He Had His Folding Board Out, 
 And We Did Not Doubt He Would Play Chess From There To London.  "Either 
 They Know Exactly Where That Ivory Is, Or They Haven'T The Slightest 
 Idea." 
   
   
 "My, But You'Re Wise!" Said Will. 
   
   
 Monty Ignored him.  "They Suspect Us Of Knowing.  They Mean To Prevent 
 Our Getting any Of It.  If They Do Know, They'Ve Some Reason Of Their 
 Own For Not Getting It Themselves At Present.  If They Don'T Know, They 
 Suspect We Know And Intend To Claim What We Find." 
   
   
 "How Should They Think We Know?" Objected will.  "The First We Ever 
 Heard Of The Stuff Was In the Lazaretto In zanzibar." 
   
   
 "True.  Juma Told Us.  Juma Probably Told Them That We Told Him. 
 Natives Often Put The Cart Before The Horse Without The Slightest 
 Intention Of Lying." 
   
   
 "All The Same, Why Should They Believe Him?" 
   
   
 "Why Not?  Zanzibar'S Agog With The Story--After All These Years. The 
 Ivory Must Have Been Buried more Than A Quarter Of A Century Ago. Some 
 One'S Been Stirring The Mud. We Arrive, Unexpectedly From Nowhere, Ask 
 Questions About The Ivory, Make Plans For British East Africa--And 
 There You Are!  The People Who Were Merely Determined to Get The Stuff 
 Jump To The False Conclusion That We Really Know Where It Is.'' 
   
   
 "Q. E. D.!" Said Fred, Finishing His Drink. 
   
   
 "Not At All," Said Monty.  "There Are Two Things Yet To Be 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 71 
 Demonstrated.  They'Re True, But Not Proven.  The German Government Is 
 After The Staff.  And The German Government Has Very Special Reasons 
 For Secrecy And Tricks." 
   
   
 "We Four Against The German Government Looks Like Longish Odds," Said 
 I. 
   
   
 "Remains To Be Seen," Said Monty.  "If The German Government'S Very 
 Special Reasons Were Legal Or Righteous They'D Be Announced with A 
 Fanfare Of Trumpets." 
   
   
 "Where'S All This Leading Us?" Demanded fred. 
   
   
 "To A Slight Change Of Plan," Said Monty. 
   
   
 "Thank The Lord!  That Means You Don'T Go To Brussels--Stay With Us!" 
   
   
 "Nothing Of The Sort, Fred.  But You Three Keep Together.  They'Re 
 Going To Watch You.  You Watch Them.  Watch Schillingschen Particularly 
 Closely, If You Find Him.  The Closer They Watch You, The More Likely 
 They Are To Lose Sight Of Me.  I'Ll Take Care To Have Several Red 
 Herrings Drawn Across My Trail After I Reach London.  Perhaps I'Ll 
 Return Down The West Coast And Travel Up The Congo River.  At Any Rate, 
 When I Do Come, And Whichever Way I Come, I'Ll Have Everything Legal, 
 In Writing.  Let Your Game Be To Seem Mysterious.  Seem To Know More 
 Than You Do, But Don'T Tell Anybody Anything.  Above All, Listen!" 
   
   
 Fred leaned back In his Chair And Laughed. 
   
   
 "Didums!" He Said.  "This Is The Idioticest Wild Goose Chase We Ever 
 Started on!  I Admit I Nosed it.  I Gave Tongue First.  But Think Of It 
 --Here We Are--Four Sensible Men--Hitherto Sensible--Off After Ivory 
 That Nobody Can Really Prove Exists, Said To Be Buried somewhere In a 
 Tract Of Half-Explored country More Than A Thousand Miles Each Way--And 
 The German Government, And Half The Criminals In africa Already On Our 
 Idiotic Heels!" 
   
   
 "Yet The German Government And The Crooks Seem Convinced, Too, That 
 There'S Something Worth Looking For!" Laughed monty.  And None Of Us 
 Could Answer That. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 72 
 For That Matter, None Of Us Would Have Been Willing To Withdraw From 
 The Search, However Dim The Prospect Of Sucess Might Seem In the 
 Intervals When Cold Reason Shed its Comfortless Rays On Us.  Intuition, 
 Or Whatever It Is That Has Proved superior So Often To Worldly Wisdom 
 (Temptation, Fred calls It!) Outweighed reason, And Fred himself Would 
 Have Been Last To Agree To Forego The Search. 
   
   
 The Voyage Is Short Between Zanzibar And Mombasa, But There Was 
 Incident.  We Were Spied on After Very Thorough Fashion, Lady Saffren 
 Waldon'S Title And Gracious Bearing (When That Suited her) Being 
 Practical Weapons.  The Purser Was Goanese --Beside Himself With The 
 Fumes Of Flattery.  He Had A Pass-Key, So The Syrian Maid Went Through 
 Our Cabins And Searched thoroughly Everything Except The Wallet Of 
 Important Papers That Monty Kept Under His Shirt.  The First And Second 
 Officers Were Rather Young, Unmarried men Possessed of Limitless 
 Ignorance Of The Wiles Of Such As Lady Waldon.  It Was They Who Signed 
 A Paper Recommending Coutlass To The B. I. Agents And A Lot Of Other 
 Reputable People In mombasa And Elsewhere, Thus Offsetting The 
 Possibility That The Authorities Might Not Let Him Land.  (Had We Known 
 All That At The Time, Monty'S Word Against Him Might Have Caused him To 
 Be Shipped back Whence He Came, But We Did Not Find It Out Until 
 Afterward;  Nor Did We Know The Law.) 
   
   
 And At Mombasa We Made Our First United, Serious Mistake.  It Was Put 
 To The Vote. We All Agreed. 
   
   
 "I Can Come Ashore," Said Monty, "Introduce You To Officialdom, Get You 
 Put Up For The Club, And Be Useful Generally.  That, Though, 'Ll Lend 
 Color To The Theory That You'Re In league With Me--Whereas, If I Leave 
 You To Your Own Resources, That May Help Lose My Scent.  When They Pick 
 It Up Again We'Ll Be Knowing Better Where We Stand." 
   
   
 "If You Came Ashore For A Few Hours We'D Have The Benefit Of Your 
 Prestige," Said I. 
   
   
 "I Admit It." 
   
   
 "I Suspect A Title'S Mighty Near As Useful On British Territory As In 
 N'York Or Boston," Said Will.  "We'D Bask In smiles." 
   
   
 "Not Wholly," Said Monty. "There'S Another Side To That.  There'S An 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 73 
 English Official Element That Would Rather Be Rude To Some Poor Devil 
 With A Title Than Draw Pay (And It Loves Its Pay, You May Believe Me!). 
  You'D Have Friends In high Places, But Make Enemies, Too, If I Go 
 Ashore With You." 
   
   
 "What'S Your Own Proposal?" Fred demanded. 
   
   
 "I'Ve Stated it.  I Want You Fellows To Choose.  There'S No Need of Me 
 Ashore--That'S To Say, I'Ve A Draft To Bearer For The Amount You Three 
 Have In the Common Fund--Here, Take It.  If You Think You'Ll Need more 
 Than That, Then I'Ll Have To Go To The Bank With You And Cash Some Of 
 My Own Draft.  I Think You'Ll Have Enough." 
   
   
 "Plenty," Said Will. 
   
   
 "Let'S Send Him Home!" Proposed fred. 
   
   
 "How About Communications?"  We Had Contrived a Code Already With The 
 Aid Of A Pocket Portuguese-English Dictionary, Of Which Fred and Monty 
 Each Possessed a Similar Edition. 
   
   
 "The Mombasa Bank, Will.  You Keep Them Posted as To Your Whereabouts. 
 When I Write The Bank Manager I'Ll Ask Him To Keep My Address A Secret." 
   
   
 So We Said Good-By To Monty And Left Him On Board, And Wished we Hadn'T 
 A Dozen Times Before Noon Next Day, And A Hundred times Within The 
 Week.  The Last Sight We Had Of Him Was As The Shore Boat Came 
 Alongside The Wharf And The Half-Breed customs Officials Pounced 
 Smiling On Us.  My Eyes Were Keenest.  I Could See Monty Pacing The 
 Upper Deck, Too Rapidly For Evidence Of Peace Of Mind--A 
 Straight-Standing, Handsome Figure Of A Man.  I Pointed him Out To The 
 Others, And We Joked about Him.  Then The Gloom Of The Customs Shed 
 Swallowed us, And There Was A New Earth And, For The Present, No More 
 Sea. 
   
   
 The Island Of Mombasa Is So Close To The Cocoanut-Fringed mainland That 
 A Railway Bridge Connects Them.  Like Zanzibar, It Is A Place Of 
 Strange Delights, And Bridled lawlessness Controlled by The Veriest 
 Handful Of Englishmen.  There Are Strange Hotels--Strange 
 Dwellings--Streets--Stores--Tongues And Faces.  The Great Grim Fort 
 That Brave Da Gama Built, And Held Against All Comers, Dominates The 
 Sea Front And The Lower Town.  The Brass-Lunged boys Who Pounce On 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 74 
 Baggage, Fight For It, And Tout For The Grandly Named hotels Are Of As 
 Many Tribes As Sizes, As Many Tongues As Tribes. 
   
   
 Everything Is Different--Everything Strange--Everything, Except The 
 Heat, Delightful.  And As Fred said, "Some Folk Would Grumble In hell!" 
  Trees, Flowers, Birds, Costumes Of The Women, Sheen Of The Sea, Glint 
 Of Sun On Bare Skins Of Every Shade From Ivory To Ebony, Dazzling Coral 
 Roadway And Colored coral Walls, Babel Of Tongues, Sack-Saddled donkeys 
 Sleepily Bearing Loads Of Coral For New Buildings, And--Winding In and 
 Out Among It All--The Narrow-Gauge Tramway On Which Trolleys Pushed by 
 Stocky Little Black Men Carry Officialdom Gratis, And The Rest Of The 
 World And His Wife According To Tariff;  All Those Things Are The 
 Alphabet Of Mombasa'S Charm.  Arranged, And Rearranged --By Chance, By 
 Individual Perspective, And By Point Of View--They Spell Fascination, 
 Attractiveness, Glamour, Mystery.  And No Acquaintance With Mombasa, 
 However Intimate Or Old, Dispels The Charm To The Man Not Guilty Of 
 Cynicism.  To The Cynic (And For Him) There Are Sin--As Africa Alone 
 Knows How To Sin--Disease, Of The Dread Zymotic Types--And Death; Death 
 Peering Through The Doors Of Godowns, Where The Ivory Tusks Are Piled; 
 Death In the Dark Back-Streets Of The Bazaar, Where Tired policemen 
 Wage Lop-Sided warfare Against Insanitary Habits And A Quite 
 Impracticable Legal Code;  Death On The Beach, Where Cannibal Crabs 
 Parade In thousands And Devour All Helpless Things;  Death In the Scrub 
 (All Green And Beautiful) Where The Tiny Streets Leave Off And Snakes 
 Claim Heritage;  Death In the Grim Red desert Beyond The Coast-Line, 
 Where Lean, Hopeless Jackals Crack Today Men'S Dry Bones Left Fifty 
 Years Ago By The Slave Caravans--Marrowless Bones Long Since Stripped 
 Clean By The Ants.  But We Are Not All Cynics. 
   
   
 Last To Be Cynic Or Pessimist Was Louis Mcgregor Abraham, Proprietor Of 
 The Imperial Hotel--Syrian By Birth, Jew By Creed, Englishman By 
 Nationality, And Admirer First, Last And All The Time Of All Things 
 Prosperous And Promising, Except His Rival, The Hotel Royal. 
   
   
 "You Came To The Right Place," He Assured us When The Last Hot Porter 
 Had Dumped the Last Of Our Belongings On The Porch, Had Ceased from 
 Chattering To Watch Fred'S Financial Methods, Had Been Paid Double The 
 Customary Price, And Had Gone Away Grumbling (To Laugh At Us Behind Our 
 Backs).  "They'D Have Rooked you At The Other Hole--Underfed you, 
 Overcharged you, And Filled you Full Of Lies.  I Tell The Truth To Folk 
 Who Come To My Hotel." 
   
   
 And He Did, Some Of It.  He Was Inexhaustible, Unconquerable, Tireless, 
 An Optimist Always.  He Had A Store That Was Part Of The Hotel, In 
 Which He Claimed to Sell "Everything The Mind Of Man Could Wish For In 
 East Africa";  And The Boast Was True.  He Even Sold American Dime 
 Novels. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 75 
 "East Africa'S A Great Country!" He Kept Assuring Us.  "Some Day We'Ll 
 All Be Rich!  Have To Get Ready For It!  Have To Be Prepared!  Have To 
 Stock Everything The Mind Of Man Can Want, To Encourage New Arrivals 
 And Make The Old Ones Feel At Home.  Lose A Little Money, But Why 
 Grumble?  Get It Back When The Boom Comes.  As It Will, Mind You.  As 
 It Will.  Can'T Help It.  Richest Country In the World--Grow 
 Anything--Find Anything--Game--Climate--Elevation--Scenery--Natives By 
 The Million To Do The Work--All Good!  Only Waiting For White Men With 
 Energy, And Capital To Start Things Really Moving!" 
   
   
 But There Were Other Points Of View.  We Went To The Bank, And Found 
 Its Manager Conservative.  The Amount Of The Draft We Placed to Our 
 Credit Insured politeness. 
   
   
 "Be Cautious," He Advised us.  "Take A Good Look Round Before You 
 Commit Yourselves!" 
   
   
 He Agreed to Manage The Interchange Of Messages Between Us And Monty, 
 And Invited us All To Dinner That Evening at The Club;  So We Left The 
 Bank Feeling Friendly And More Confident.  Later, A Chance-Met English 
 Official Showed us Over The Old Fort (Now Jail) Where Men Of More 
 Breeds And Sorts Than Noah Knew, Better Clothed and Fed than Ever In 
 Their Lives, Drew Endless Supplies Of Water In buckets From Da Gama'S 
 Well. 
   
   
 "Some Of Them Have To Be Kicked out When Their Sentences Expire!" He 
 Told Us.  "See You At The Club Tonight.  Glad To Help Welcome You." 
   
   
 But There Was A Shock In store, And As Time Passed the Shocks Increased 
 In Number And Intensity.  Our Guns Had Not Been Surrendered to Us By 
 The Customs People.  We Had Paid Duty On Them Second-Hand At The Rate 
 For New Ones, And Had Then Been Told To Apply For Them At The 
 Collector'S Office, Where Our Names And The Guns' Numbers Would Be 
 Entered on The Register--For A Fee. 
   
   
 We Now Went To Claim Them, And On The Way Down Inquired at A Store 
 About Ammunition.  We Were Told That Before We Could Buy Cartridges We 
 Would Need a Permit From The Collector Specifying How Many, And Of What 
 Bore We Might Buy.  There Was An Arab In the Store Ahead Of Us.  He Was 
 Buying Martini Henry Cartridges.  I Asked whether He Had A Permit, And 
 Was Told He Did Not Need one. 
   
   
 "Being an Arab?" I Asked. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 76 
 "Being Well Known To The Government," Was The Answer. 
   
   
 We Left The Store Feeling Neither Quite So Confident Nor Friendly.  And 
 The Collector'S Goanese Assistant Did The Rest Of The Disillusioning. 
   
   
 No, We Could Not Have Our Guns.  No, We Could Have No Permit For 
 Ammunition.  No, The Collector Was Not In the Office.  No, He Would Not 
 Be There That Afternoon.  It Was Provided in regulations That We Could 
 Have Neither Guns, Sporting Licenses, Nor Permits For Ammunition.  The 
 Guns Were Perfectly Safe In the Government Godown--Would Not Be 
 Tampered with--Would Be Returned to Us When We Chose To Leave The 
 Country. 
   
   
 "But, Good God, We'Ve Paid Duty On Them!" Oakes Protested. 
   
   
 "You Should Not Have Brought The Guns With You Unless You Desired to 
 Pay Duty," Said The Goanese. 
   
   
 "But Where'S The Collector?" Yerkes Demanded. 
   
   
 "I Am Only Assistant," Was The Answer.  "How Should I Know?" 
   
   
 The Man'S Insolence, Of Demeanor And Words, Was Unveiled, And The More 
 We Argued with Him The More Sullen And Evasive He Grew, Until At Last 
 He Ordered us Out Of The Office.  At That We Took Chairs And Announced 
 Our Intention Of Staying Until The Collector Should Come Or Be Fetched. 
  We Were Informed that The Collector Was The Most Important Government 
 Official In mombasa--Information That So Delighted fred that He Grew 
 Almost Good Tempered again. 
   
   
 "I'D Rather Twist A Big Tail Than A Little One!" He Announced.  "Shall 
 We Sing To Pass The Time?" 
   
   
 The Goanese Called for The Askari,* Half-Soldier, Half-Police-Man, Who 
 Drowsed in meek Solitude Outside The Office Door. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 77 
 ---------------- 
 * Askari, Soldier. 
 ---------------- 
   
   
 "Remove These People, Please!" He Said In english, And Then Repeated it 
 In Kiswahili. 
   
   
 The Askari Eyed us, Shifted his Bare Feet Uncomfortably, Screwed up His 
 Courage, Tried to Look Stern, And Said Something In his Own Tongue. 
   
   
 "Put Them Out, I Said!" Said The Goanese. 
   
   
 "He Orders You To Put Us Out!" Grinned fred. 
   
   
 "The Office Closes At Three," Said The Goanese, Glancing at The Clock 
 In A Half-Hearted effort To Moderate His Own Daring. 
   
   
 "Not Unless The Collector Comes And Closes It Himself, It Doesn'T!" 
 Fred announced with Folded arms. 
   
   
 Will Pulled out Two Rupees And Offered them To The Sentry. 
   
   
 "Go And Bring Us Some Food," He Said. "We Intend To Stay In here Until 
 Your Bwana Makubwa* Comes." 
   
   
 -------------- 
 * Bwana Makubwa, Lit. Big Master, Senior Government Officer. 
 -------------- 
   
   
 The Sentry Refused the Money, Waving It Aside With The Air Of A Caesar 
 Declining a Crown. 
   
   
 "Gee!" Exclaimed will.  "You'Ve Got To Hand It To The British If They 
 Train Colored police To Refuse Money." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 78 
 The Askari, It Seemed, Was A Man Of More Than One Kind Of Discretion. 
 Without Another Word To The Goanese He Saluted the Lot Of Us With A 
 Sweep Of His Arm, Turned on His Heel And Vanished--Not Stopping In his 
 Hurry To Put On The Sandals That Lay On The Door-Step.  We Amused 
 Ourselves While He Was Gone By Flying Questions At The Goanese, 
 Calculated to Disturb What Might Be Left Of His Equanimity Without 
 Giving Him Ground For Lawsuits. 
   
   
 "How Old Are You?"--"How Much Pay Do You Get?"--"How Long Have You Held 
 Your Job?"--"Do You Ever Get Drunk?"--"Are You Married?"--"Does Your 
 Wife Love You?"--"Do You Keep White Mice?"--"Is Your Life 
 Insured?"--"How Often Have You Been In jail?"--"Are You Honest?"--"Are 
 You Vaccinated against The Jim-Jams?"--"Why Is Your Name Fernandez And 
 Not Braganza?" 
   
   
 The Man Was About Distracted, For He Had Been Unwise Enough To Try To 
 Answer, When Suddenly The Collector Came In great Haste And Stalked 
 Through The Office Into The Inner Room. 
   
   
 "Fernandez!" He Called as He Passed, And The Goanese Hurried after Him, 
 Hugely Relieved.  There Was Five Minute'S Consultation Behind The 
 Partition In tones Too Low For Us To Catch More Than A Word Or Two, And 
 Then Fernandez Came Out Again With A "Now Wait And See, My Hearties!" 
 Smile On His Face.  He Was Actually Rubbing His Palms Together, Sure Of 
 A Swift Revenge. 
   
   
 "He Says You Are To Go In there," He Announced. 
   
   
 So We Filed in, Fred oakes First, And It Seemed to Me The Moment I Saw 
 The Collector'S Face That The Outlook Was Not So Depressing.  He Looked 
 Neither Young Nor Incompetent.  His Jaw Was Neither Receding Nor Too 
 Prominent.  His Neck Sat On His Shoulders With The Air Of Full 
 Responsibility, Unsought But Not Refused.  And His Eyes Looked straight 
 Into Those Of Each Of Us In turn With A Frank Challenge No Honest 
 Fellow Could Resent. 
   
   
 "Take Seats, Won'T You," He Said. "Your Names, Please?" 
   
   
 We Told Him, And He Wrote Them Down. 
   
   
 "My Clerk Tells Me You Tried to Bribe The Askari.  You Shouldn'T Do 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 79 
 That.  We Are At Great Pains To Keep The Police Dependable.  It'S Too 
 Bad To Put Temptation In their Way." 
   
   
 Will, With Cold Precision, Told Him The Exact Facts.  He Listened to 
 The End, And Then Laughed. 
   
   
 "One More Goanese Mistake!" He Said.  "We Have To Employ Them.  They 
 Mean Well.  The Country Has No Money To Spend On European Office 
 Assistants.  Well--What Can I Do For You?" 
   
   
 At That Fred cut Loose. 
   
   
 "We Want Our Guns Before Dark!" He Said.  "It'S The First Time My 
 Character Has Been Questioned by Any Government, And I Say The Same For 
 My Friends!" 
   
   
 "Oh?" Said The Collector, Eying Us Strangely. 
   
   
 "Yes!" Said Fred. 
   
   
 "That Is So," Said I. 
   
   
 "Entirely So," Said Will. 
   
   
 "I Have Information," Said The Collector, Tapping With A Pencil On His 
 Blotter, "That You Men Are Ivory Hunters.  That You Left Portuguese 
 Territory Because The German Consul There Had To Request The Portuguese 
 Government To Expel You." 
   
   
 "All Easily Disproved," Said Fred. "Confront Us, Please, With Our 
 Accusers." 
   
   
 "And That Lord Montdidier, With Whom You Have Been Traveling, Became So 
 Disgusted with Your Conduct That He Refused to Land With You At This 
 Port As He At First Intended!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 80 
 We All Three Gasped.  The First Thing That Occurred to Me, And I 
 Suppose To All Of Us, Was To Send For Monty.  His Steamer Was Not 
 Supposed to Sail For An Hour Yet.  But The Thought Had Hardly Flashed 
 In Mind When We Heard The Roar Of Steam And Clanking as The Anchor 
 Chain Came Home.  The Sound Traveled over Water And Across Roofs Like 
 The Knell Of Good Luck--The Clanking Of The Fetters Of Ill Fate. 
   
   
 "Where'S Her Next Stop?" Said I. 
   
   
 "Suez," Fred answered. 
   
   
 Simultaneously Then To All Three The Thought Came Too That This 
 Interpretation Of Monty'S Remaining On Board Was Exactly What We 
 Wanted.  The More People Suspected us Of Acting Independently Of Him 
 The Better. 
   
   
 "Confront Us With Our Accusers!" Fred insisted. 
   
   
 "You Are Not Accused--At Least Not Legally," Said The Collector.  "You 
 Are Refused rifle And Ammunition Permits, That Is All." 
   
   
 "On The Ground Of Being Ivory Hunters?" 
   
   
 "Suspected persons--Not Known To The Government--Something Rather 
 Stronger Than Rumor To Your Discredit, And Nothing Known In your Favor." 
   
   
 "What Recourse Have We?" Fred demanded. 
   
   
 "Well--What Proof Can You Offer That You Are Bona Fide Travelers Or 
 Intending Settlers?  Are You Ivory Hunters Or Not?" 
   
   
 "I'Ll Answer That," Said Fred--Dexterously I Thought, "When I'Ve Seen A 
 Copy Of The Game Laws. We'Re Law-Abiding Men." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 81 
 The Collector Handed us A Well Thumbed copy Of The Red book. 
   
   
 "They'Re All In that," He Said.  "I'Ll Lend It To You, Or You Can Buy 
 One Almost Anywhere In town.  If You Decide After Reading That To Go 
 Farther Up Country I'M Willing To Issue Provisional Game Licenses, 
 Subject To Confirmation After I'Ve Looked into Any Evidence You Care To 
 Submit On Your Own Behalf.  You Can Have Your Guns Against A Cash 
 Deposit--" 
   
   
 "How Big?" 
   
   
 "Two Hundred rupees For Each Gun!' 
   
   
 Fred laughed.  The Demand Was Intended to Be Away Over Our Heads.  The 
 Collector Bridled. 
   
   
   
 "But No Ammunition," He Went On, "Until Your Claim To Respectability 
 Has Been Confirmed.  By The Way, The Only Claim You'Ve Made To Me Is 
 For The Guns.  You'Ve Told Me Nothing about Yourselves." 
   
   
 "Two Hundred a Gun?" Said Fred.  "Counting a Pistol Or Revolver As 
 One?"   Three Guns Apiece--Nine Guns--Eighteen Hundred rupees' Deposit?" 
   
   
 The Collector Nodded with A Sort Of Grim Pleasure In his Own 
 Unreasonableness.  Fred drew Out Our New Check Book. 
   
   
 "You Fellows Agreeable?" He Asked, And We Nodded. 
   
   
 "Here'S A Check On The Mombasa Bank For Ten Thousand, And Your 
 Government Can Have As Much More Again If It Wants It," He Said.  "Make 
 Me Out A Receipt Please, And Write On It What It'S For." 
   
   
 The Collector Wrote.  He Was Confused, For He Had To Tear Up More Than 
 One Blank. 
   
   
 "I Suppose We Get Interest On The Money At The Legal Local Rate?" Asked 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 82 
 Fred maliciously. 
   
   
 "I'Ll Inquire About That," Said The Collector. 
   
   
 "Excuse Me," Said Fred, "But I'M Going To Give You Some Advice.  While 
 You'Re Inquiring, Look Into The Antecedents Of Lady Isobel Saffren 
 Waldon!  It'S She Who Gave Out The Tip Against Us.  Her Tip'S A Bad 
 One.  So Is She." 
   
   
 "She Hasn'T Applied for Guns Or A License," The Collector Answered 
 Tartly.         "It'S People Who Want To Carry Firearms--People Able 
 And Likely To Make Trouble Whom We Keep An Eye On." 
   
   
 "She'S More Likely To Make Trouble For You Than A Burning House!" Put 
 In Will Yerkes.  "If My Partner Hadn'T Paid You That Check I'D Be All 
 For Having This Business Out!  I'M Going To Let Them Know In the States 
 What Sort Of Welcome People Receive At This Port!" 
   
   
 "You Came Of Your Own Accord.  You Weren'T Invited," The Collector 
 Answered. 
   
   
 "That'S A Straight-Out Lie!" Snapped will.  "You Know It'S A Lie!  Why, 
 There Isn'T A Newspaper In south Africa That Hasn'T Been Carrying ads 
 Of This Country For Months Past.  Even Papers I'Ve Had Sent Me From The 
 States Have Carried press-Agent Dope About It.  Why, You'Ve Been 
 Yelling For Settlers Like A Kid Squalling For Milk--And You Say We'Re 
 Not Invited now We'Ve Come Here!  I'M Going To Write And Tell The U. S. 
 Papers What That Dope Is Worth!" 
   
   
 "Ivory Hunters Are Not Settlers," The Collector Interjected. 
   
   
 "Who Said We'Re Ivory Hunters?"  Will Was In a Fine Rage, And Fred and 
 I Leaned back To Enjoy The Official'S Discomfort.  "Besides, Your Ads 
 Bragged about The Big Game As One Of The Chief Attractions!  All The 
 Information You Can Possibly Have Against Us Must Have Come From A 
 Female Crook In the Pay Of The German Government!  You'Re Not Behaving 
 The Way Gentlemen Do Where I Was Raised!" 
   
   
 "There Is No Intention To Offend," Said The Collector. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 83 
 "Intention Is Good!" Said Will, Laughing In spite Of Himself. "There'S 
 Another Thing I Want To Know.  What About Ammunition?  We'Re To Have 
 Our Guns.  They'Re Useless Without Cartridges.  What About It?" 
   
   
 "The Guns Shall Be Sent To Your Hotel Tonight.  The Provisional 
 Sporting Licenses--If You Want Them--Will Be Ready Tomorrow 
 Morning--Seven Hundred and Fifty Rupees Apiece--I'Ll Charge Them 
 Against Your Deposit.  If The Licenses Should Be Confirmed after 
 Inquiry, I Will Send You Permits Through The Post For Fifty Rounds Of 
 Ammunition Each." 
   
   
 Will Snorted.  Fred oakes Yelled with Laughter, And I Gaped with 
 Indignation. 
   
   
 "I'M Going Into This To The Hilt!" Spluttered fred.  "I Wouldn'T Have 
 Missed it For A Fortune!  We Three Are Going To Constitute Ourselves A 
 Committee Of Inspection.  We'Re Going To Wander The Country Over And 
 Report Home To The Newspapers--South African--British--U. S. A.--And 
 Any Other Part Of The World That'S Interested!  We Won'T Worry About 
 Ammunition.  Send Us Permits For Whatever Quantity Seems To You Proper, 
 And We'Ll Note It All Down In our Diaries!" 
   
   
 We All Stood Up, The Collector Obviously Uncomfortable And We, If Not 
 At Ease, At Least Happier Than We Had Been. 
   
   
 Fred nodded to The Collector Genially, And We All Walked out. 
   
   
 Mombasa Is A Fairly Large Island, But The Built-Over Part Of It Is 
 Small, So It Was Not Surprising That We Should Emerge From The Office 
 Face To Face With Lady Saffren Waldon.  She Was The One Surprised, Not 
 We.  She Probably Thought She Had Spiked our Guns In that Part Of The 
 World Forever, And The Sight Of Us Coming Laughing From The Very Office 
 Where We Should Have Been Made Glum Must Have Been Disconcerting. 
   
   
 She Was Riding On One Of The Little Trolley-Cars, Pushed by Two Boys In 
 White Official Uniform, Dressed in her Flimsiest Best, A Lace Parasol 
 Across Her Knee, And Beside Her An Obvious Member Of The 
 Government--Young, And So Recently From Home As Not To Have Lost His 
 Pink Cheeks Yet. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 84 
 Had There Not Been An Awning Over The Trolley-Car She Might Have Used 
 The Parasol To Make Believe She Had Not Seen Us.  But The Awning 
 Precluded that, And We Were Not More Than Two Or Three Yards Away. 
   
   
 "Laugh!" Whispered fred. 
   
   
 So We Crossed the Track Laughing and The Trolley Had To Pause To Let Us 
 By.  We Laughed as We Raised our Helmets To Her--Laughed both At Her 
 And At The Pink And White Puppy She Had Taken In leash.  And Then The 
 Sort Of Thing Happened that Nearly Always Does When Men With A 
 Reasonable Faith In their Own Integrity Make Up Their Minds To See 
 Opprobrium Through.  Fate Stepped hard On Our Arm Of The Balance. 
   
   
 If Built-Over Mombasa Is A Small Place, So Is Africa.  So Is The World. 
  Striding Down The Hill From The Other Hotel, The Rival One, The Royal, 
 Came A Man So Well Known In so Many Lands That They Talk Of Naming a 
 Tenth Of A Continent After Him--The Mightiest Hunter Since Nimrod, And 
 Very Likely Mightier Than He;  Surely More Looked-Up To And 
 Respected--A Little, Wiry-Looking, Freckled, Wizened man Whose Beard 
 Had Once Been Red, Who Walked with A Decided limp And Blinked genially 
 From Under The Brim Of A Very Neat Khaki Helmet. 
   
   
 "Why, Bless My Soul If It Isn'T Fred oakes!" He Exclaimed, In a 
 Squeaky, Worn-Out Voice That Is As Well Known As His Face, And 
 Quickened his Pace Down-Hill. 
   
   
 "Courtney!" Said Fred.  "There'S Only One Man I'D Rather Meet!" 
   
   
 The Little Man Laughed.  "Oh, You And Your Montdidier Are Still 
 Inseparable, I Suppose!  How Are You, Fred?  I'M Glad To See You.  Who 
 Are Your Friends?" 
   
   
 At That Minute Out Came The Collector From His Office--Stood On The 
 Step, And Stared.  Fred introduced us To Courtney, And I Experienced 
 The Thrill Of Shaking Hands With The Man Accounts Of Whose Exploits Had 
 Fired my Schoolboy Imagination And Made Stay-At-Home Life Forever After 
 An Impossibility. 
   
   
 "I Missed the Steamer, Fred.  Not Another For A Week.  Going Down Now 
 To See About A Passage To Somaliland.  I Suppose You'Ll Be At The Club 
 After Dinner?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 85 
 "No" Said Fred.  "We'Ve An Invitation, But I Think We'Ll Send A Note 
 And Say We Can'T Come.  We'Ll Dine At Our Hotel And Sit On The Veranda 
 Afterward." 
   
   
 I Wondered what Fred was Driving at, And So Did The Collector Who Was 
 Headed across The Street And Listening With All Ears. 
   
   
 "That So?  Not A Bad Idea.  They'Ve Very Kindly Made Me An Honorary 
 Member Of The Club, But I Rather Expect There'S A String To That--Eh, 
 Fred, Don'T You?  They'Ll Expect Stories,--Stories.  I Get Tired of 
 Telling The Same Tales So Many Times Over.  Suppose I Join You Fellows, 
 Eh?  I'M At The Royal.  You At The Other Place?  Suppose I Join You 
 After Dinner, And We Have A Pipe Together On The Veranda?" 
   
   
 "Nothing I'D Like Better," Said Fred, And I Felt Too Pleased with The 
 Prospect To Say Anything at All.  Growing Old Is A Foolish And 
 Unnecessary Business, But There Is No Need to Forego While Young The 
 Thrills Of Unashamed hero-Worship;  In fact, That Is One Of The Ways Of 
 Continuing Young.  It Is Only The Disillusioned (Poor Deceived ones) 
 And The Cynics, Who Grow Old Ungracefully. 
   
   
   
 We Went Upstreet, Through The Shadow Of The Great Grim Fort.  The 
 Trolley-Car Trundled down Among The Din, Smells And Colors Of The 
 Business-End Of Town.  Looking Over My Shoulder I Saw Courtney Talking 
 To The Collector. 
   
   
 "We'Re Getting absolution, Fred!" Said I. 
   
   
 "I'M Not Sure We Need it," Fred answered.  "I Hope Courtney Won'T Tell 
 Too Much!"  So Quickly Does A Man Jump From Praying For Friends At 
 Court To Fearing Them! 
   
   
 "Courtney Looked to Me," Said Will, "Like A Man Who Would Give No Games 
 Away." 
   
   
 Glad You Think That Of Him" Said Fred. 
   
   
 "Why?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 86 
 "Tell You Later, Maybe." 
   
   
 But He Did Not Tell Until After Dinner.  (It Was A Good Dinner For East 
 Africa.  Shark Steak Figured in it, Under A More Respectable Name;  And 
 There Was Zebu Hump, Guinea-Fowl, And More Different Kinds Of Fruit 
 Than A Man Could Well Remember.)  When It Was Over We Sat In deep 
 Armchairs On The Long Wide Veranda That Fronts The Whole Hotel.  The 
 Evening Sea-Breeze Came And Wafted in on Us The Very Scents Of Araby; 
 The Night Sounds That Whisper Of Wilderness Gave The Lie To A Tinkling 
 Guitar That Somewhere In the Distance Spoke Of Civilized delights.  The 
 Surf Crooned on Coral Half A Mile Away, And Very Good Cigar Smoke (From 
 A Box That Monty Had Sent Ashore With Our Belongings) Supplemented 
 Coffee And The Other Aids To Physical Contentment.  Then, Limping 
 Between The Armchairs, And Ashamed that We Should Rise To Greet 
 Him--Motioning Us Down Again With A Little Nervous Laugh--Courtney Came 
 To Us.  Within Five Minutes Of His Coming The World, And The Clock, And 
 The Laws Of Men Might Have All Reversed themselves For Aught We Cared. 
 Without Really Being Conscious He Was Doing It Courtney Plunged into 
 Our Problem, Grasped it, Sized it Up, Advised us, Flooded us With 
 Priceless, Wonderful Advice, And Did It With Such Almost Feminine 
 Sympathy That I Believe We Would Have Been Telling Him Our Love-Affairs 
 At Last, If A Glance At The Watch He Wore In a Case At His Belt Had Not 
 Told Him It Was Three A. M. 
   
   
 "There'S Trouble" He Began When He Had Filled his Pipe.  "You Boys Are 
 In Trouble.  What Is It?" He Asked, Shifting and Twitching In his 
 Seat--Refusing an Armchair--Refusing a Drink. 
   
   
 "Tell Us First What'S The Matter With You," Said Fred. 
   
   
 "Oh, Nothing.  An Old Wound.  A Lion Once Dragged me By This Shoulder 
 Half A Mile Or So.  At This Time Of Year I Get Pains.  They Last A Day 
 Or Two, Then Pass--Go On, Tell Me!" 
   
   
 He Never Sat Really Still Once That Whole Evening, Yet Never Once 
 Complained or Made A Gesture Of Impatience. 
   
   
 "I Propose," Said Fred, With A Glance At Yerkes And Me, "To Tell 
 Courtney Everything Without Reserve." 
   
   
 The Little Old Hunter Nodded, Watching Us With Bright Blue Eyes.  I 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 87 
 Received the Impression That He Knew More Secrets Than He Could Tell 
 Should He Talk Down All The Years That Might Be Left Him.  He Was The 
 Sort Of Man In whom Nearly Every One Confides. 
   
   
 "We'Re After Tippoo Tib'S Ivory!" Said Fred, Plunging Into The Middle 
 Of Things.  "Monty Has Gone To Drive A Bargain With The King Of 
 Belgium.  Do You Think It'S A Wild Goose Chase?" 
   
   
 Courtney Chuckled. "No," He Said.  "I Wouldn'T Call It That.  They'Ve 
 Been Killing Elephants In africa Ever Since The Flood.  Ivory Must Have 
 Accumulated.  It'S Somewhere.  Some Of It Must Be So Old And Well 
 Seasoned as To Be Practically Priceless, Unless Rats Have Spoiled it. 
 Rats Play Old Harry With Ivory, You Know." 
   
   
 "Have You A Notion Where It Is?" Demanded fred. 
   
   
 Courtney Laughed.  "Behold Me Leaving The Country!" He Said. 
 "If I Knew I'D Look.  If I Saw I'D Take!" 
   
   
 "Can You Give Us A Hint?" 
   
   
 "There Are Caves Near The Summit Of Mount Elgon That Would Hold The 
 World'S Revenues.  None Of Them Have Ever Been Thoroughly Explored. 
 Cannibals Live In some Of Them.  Cannibals And Caverns Is A Combination 
 That Might Appeal To Tippoo Tib, But There'S No Likelihood That He 
 Buried all That Ivory In one Place, You Know.  I Suspect The Greater 
 Part Is In the Congo, And That The Germans Know Its Whereabouts Within 
 A Mile Or Two." 
   
   
 "How Did They Discover It?" 
   
   
 "Why Don'T They Dig It Out?" 
   
   
 "What Keeps 'Em From Turning Their Knowledge Into Money?" 
   
   
 We Had Forgotten Our Own Troubles.  Courtney, Too, Seemed to Forget For 
 The Moment That He Had Began By Asking Us A Question. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 88 
 "Remember Emin Pasha?  When Was It--'87--'88--'89 That Stanley Went And 
 Rescued him?  Perhaps You Recall What Was Then Described as Emin'S 
 Ingratitude After The Event?  British Government Offered him A Billet. 
 Khedive Of Egypt Cabled him The Promise Of A Job, All On Stanley'S 
 Recommendation.  Emin Turned 'Em All Down And Accepted a Job From The 
 Germans.  Nobody Understood It At The Time.  My Own Idea Is That Emin 
 Thought He Knew More Or Less Where That Hoard Is.  He Didn'T Really 
 Want To Come Away With Stanley, You Know.  Being a German, I Suppose He 
 Preferred to Share His Secret With His Own Crowd.  I Dare Say He 
 Thought Of Telling Stanley But Judged that The 'Rock Breaker' Might 
 Demand A Too Large Share.  The Value Of The Stuff Must Be So Enormous 
 That It'S Almost Worth Going To War About, From The Point Of View Of A 
 Nation Hungry For New Colonies.  Emin Is Dead, And It'S Likely He Left 
 No Exact Particulars Behind Him.  To My Personal Knowledge The Germans 
 Have Had A Swarm Of Spies For A Long Time Operating Beyond The Congo 
 Border." 
   
   
 "Were You Looking For The Stuff Yourself?" I Asked. 
   
   
 "Oh, No," He Laughed.  "But When I'M Hunting I Look About Me.  I'Ll 
 Tell You Where The Stuff May Possibly Be.  There'S A Section Of Country 
 Called the Bahr El Gazal That The Congo People Claim, But That I 
 Believe Will Eventually Prove To Lie On The British Side Of The 
 Boundary.  It Was Good Elephant Country--Which Is To Say Bad Living and 
 Traveling For Man--Since The Earth Took Shape Out Of Ooze.  Awful 
 Swampy, Malarious, Densely Wooded, Dangerous Country, Sparsely 
 Inhabited by Savages Not Averse To Cannibalism When They'Ve 
 Opportunity.  The Ivory May Be There.  If The Germans Know It'S There 
 They'Re Naturally Afraid The British Government Would Claim The Whole 
 District The Minute The Secret Was Out.  Their Plan May Possibly Be To 
 Wait Until A Boundary Dispute Arises In the Ordinary Course Of Time 
 (Keeping a Cautious Eye On The Cache Meanwhile, Of Course) And Then 
 Take The Congo Government Side.  If They Can Contrive To Have It 
 Acknowledged as Congo Territory, They Might Then Pick A Quarrel With 
 The Congo Government--Or Come To Some Sort Of Terms With Them." 
   
   
 "They'Ve Patience," I Said, "If They'Re Playing That Game!" 
   
   
 Courtney Raised his Eyebrows Until His Forehead Was A Mass Of Deep 
 Wrinkles.  Then He Blew A Dozen Smoke Rings. 
   
   
 "Patient--Perhaps.  It'S My Impression They'Re As Remorseless And 
 Persistent As White Ants--Undermining, Digging, Devouring Everywhere 
 While The Rest Of The World Sleeps.  Do You Remember There Was A Mutiny 
 Of Native Troops In uganda Not Many Years Ago?  Some Said That Was 
 Because The Troops Were Being Paid In truck Instead Of Money, And Like 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 89 
 Most Current Excuses That One Had Some Truth In it.  But The Men 
 Themselves Vowed they Were Going To Set Up An African Muhammedan 
 Empire." 
   
   
 "What Had That To Do With Germans?" Asked fred. 
   
   
 "Nothing That I Can Personally Prove" Said Courtney.  "But I'Ve A Broad 
 Acquaintance Among Natives, And Considerable Knowledge Of Their 
 Tongues.  Muhammedanism Is Spreading among Them Very Rapidly.  Over And 
 Over Again, Beside Camp-Fires, And In the Dark When They Thought I Was 
 Not Listening, I Have Heard Them Talk Of Missionaries From German 
 Territory Who Spread A Doctrine Of What You Might Call Pan-Islam For 
 Lack Of A Better Name.  I Said At The Time Of The Uganda Mutiny That I 
 Believed germans Were Behind It.  I'Ve Seen No Reason To Change My 
 Opinion Since.  It'S Obvious That If The Mutiny Had By Some Ill Chance 
 Succeeded uganda Would Have Been An Easy Prey For Karl Peters And His 
 Germans.  If That Ivory Of Tippoo Tib'S Is Really In the Bahr El Gazal 
 At The Back Of Uganda, Then The German Motive For Stirring Up The 
 Uganda Mutiny Would Be Obvious." 
   
   
 "But Doesn'T Our Government Know All This?" Demanded fred. 
   
   
 "That Depends On What You Mean By The Word Know," Answered courtney. 
 "I'Ve Made No Secret Of My Own Opinion!" 
   
   
 "But They Wouldn'T Listen?" 
   
   
 "Some Did, Some Didn'T.  The Home Government--Which Was The India 
 Office In those Days--Took No Notice Whatever.  One Or Two Men Out Here 
 Believed, But I Think They'Re Dead.  When The Foreign Office Took The 
 Country Over I Don'T Suppose They Overhauled old Reports Very 
 Carefully.  I Dare Say My Letters On The Subject Lie Inches Deep In 
 Dust." 
   
   
 "England Doesn'T Deserve To Keep Her Colonies!" Vowed fred, Caught In a 
 Sudden Flood Of Indignation. 
   
   
 Courtney Laughed. 
   
   
 "When You'Ve Seen As Many Of The Other Nations' Colonies As I Have 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 90 
 You'Ll Qualify That Verdict!  We Do Our Best.  God Gave Us Our Work To 
 Do, And The Devil Came And Made Us Stupid!  Take This Country, For 
 Instance." 
   
   
 "Yes!" Agreed fred.  "Take This Country!  We Came Ashore Today--Left 
 Monty On Board Ship On His Way To Europe.  Nobody Knew A Thing about 
 Us.  A Female Woman, Known To The Police In zanzibar And So Notorious 
 In Europe That She'S In no Hurry To Go Home--Said, Too, On Every Hand 
 To Be In the Pay Of The German Government--Chose To Tell Lies About Us 
 To The Chuckle-Headed puppies In charge Of Mombasa.  Net Result--What 
 Do You Suppose?" 
   
   
 "I Know," Said Courtney.  "I'Ve Been Told This Evening."  His Eyes 
 Changed, And His Voice Took On The Almost Feminine Note Of Appeal That 
 Came Strangely From A Big Game Hunter.  "You Boys Must Overlook Things. 
  These Boys You'Re Angry With Are Younger Than You, Fred.  That 
 Collector You'Ve Contrived to Pick A Quarrel With Has Fought Arabs And 
 Cannibal Troops--Odds Against Him Of Fifty Or A Hundred to One, Mind 
 You--All Across The Congo And Back Again.  He Fought In the Uganda 
 Mutiny.  He'S A Man.  He'S A Merchant, Though, With A Merchant'S 
 Education.  He Was Taken Over With The Rest Of The Clerks When The 
 British Government Superseded the British East Africa Trading Company. 
 He Has Never Had The Advantage Of Legal Training.  Went To A Common 
 School.  No Advantages Of Any Kind.  Poorly Paid And Overworked. 
 There'S No Money In the Country Yet.  Nobody To Tax. 
 Salaries--Expenses And So On Come From Home, Voted by Parliament.  As 
 Long As That Condition Lasts They'Re All Going To Feel Nervous.  They 
 Know They'Ll Get The Blame For Everything That Goes Wrong, And Precious 
 Little Credit In any Case.  Parliament Advertised the Country In answer 
 To Their Complaints Of No Revenue.  Parliament Called for Settlers. 
 But They'Re Not Ready For Settlers.  They Don'T Know How To Handle 
 Them.  They'Ve No Troops--Nothing But A Handful Of Black Police.  How 
 Shall They Keep In order Colonials Armed with Repeating Rifles? 
 They'Re Not Ready.  The Uganda Railway Isn'T Finished yet;  Trains Get 
 Through To Victoria Nyanza Once A Week, But There'S Endless Work To Be 
 Done Yet On The Line, And Parliament Grudges Them Every Penny They 
 Spend On It.  Yet The Railway Was Rushed through By Order Of Parliament 
 To Prevent Doctor Karl Peters And The Germans From Claiming Occupation 
 Of The Head-Waters Of The Nile And So Dominating Upper Egypt.  You Boys 
 Must Be Considerate." 
   
   
 "All Right," Said Fred. "I'Ll Grant All That." 
   
   
 "But What Gets Me"  Will Interrupted, "Is That They Should Condemn Us 
 Out-Of-Hand--On Sight--Untried--On The Say-So Of This Lady Saffren 
 Waldon.  She Carries German Letters Of Credit.  She'S So Notoriously In 
 League With Germans That You'D Think Even These Little Napoleons 'Ud 
 Know It.  I'M American Myself, Thank God, But These Two Men Are Their 
 Own Kith And Kin.  Why Should They Judge Their Own Countrymen Unheard 
 On The Say-So Of A Woman Like That?  That'S What Rattles Me!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 91 
 Courtney Blew Six Smoke Rings. 
   
   
 "You'Ll Have To Forgive Them, Lad.  Too Many Of The Englishmen Who Have 
 Come Here Were Bad Bats From The South, So Hot-Footed that They Burned 
 The Grass.  Then--Don'T Forget That The Germans Have A Military 
 Government To The South Of Us--All Experienced men--A Great Many Of 
 Them Unmitigated rascals, But Nearly All Of Them Clever--Students Of 
 Strategy And Psychology And Tactics--Some Of Them Brilliant Men Who 
 Have Had To Apply For Colonial Service Because Of Debt Or Scandal. 
 They'Re Overmanned where We Are Under-Manned--Backed up From Home Where 
 Our Boys Are Only Blamed and Neglected--Well Supplied with Troops And 
 Ammunition, Where Our Police Are Kept Down To The Danger Point And Now 
 And Then Even Without Cartridges.  The Germans Have No Railway Yet, But 
 They'Ve A Policy And They Keep It Secret.  We Have A Railway, And No 
 Policy Except Retrenchment And Economy.  I'M Convinced the German 
 Government Has No Scruples.  We Have.  So You Must Sympathize With Our 
 Young Men, Not Quarrel With Them." 
   
   
 "Believe Me," I Said, "We Didn'T Start Out To Quarrel With Anybody. 
 That Woman Lied about Us.  There'S No Excuse For Believing Her Without 
 Giving Us A Hearing." 
   
   
 "Oh, Yes There Is.  I Spoke With Her Myself This Evening," Said 
 Courtney.  "She'S Staying at My Hotel, You Know.  She'S A Match For 
 Much More Experienced men Than Our Young Officials.  They'Ve Been 
 Fighting arabs, Not Flirting.  She Had The Impudence To Try To Flatter 
 Me.  I Don'T Doubt She'S Telling a Crowd Of Men Tonight That I'M In 
 Love With Her--Perhaps Not Exactly Telling Them That, But Giving Them 
 To Understand It.  Why Don'T I Stroll Down To The Club And Deny It? 
 For The Same Reason That You Don'T Openly Denounce Her!  It'S Semi- Or 
 Wholly-Sentimental Chivalry--Rank Stupidity, If You Like To Call It 
 That, But It'S National, I'M Glad To Say, And I'M As Proud Of It As Any 
 One." 
   
   
 "Doesn'T It Look To You," Said Fred, "That If She And The German 
 Government Are So Infernally Anxious To Spoil Our Chances--And They 
 Suspect What We'Re After, You Know--Doesn'T It Look To You As If There 
 May Really Be Something In this Quest Of Ours?" 
   
   
 "Undoubtedly," Said Courtney.  "There'S Ivory In it, Tons And Tons And 
 Tons Of Ivory.  Somebody Will Find It Some Day." 
   
   
 "Join Us Then!" Said Fred.  "Cancel Your Trip To Somaliland And Come 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 92 
 With Us!  I Can Speak For Monty.  I Know He'Ll Welcome You Into The 
 Partnership!" 
   
   
 "I Believe I Could Almost Speak For Monty, Too," Laughed courtney.  "He 
 And I Were At Eton Together, And We'Ve Never Ceased being Friends.  But 
 I Can'T Come With You.  No.  I'M Making a Sort Of Semi-Official Trip. 
 I Shall Hunt, Of Course, But There Are Observations To Be Made.  The 
 Pan-Islamic Theory Is Said To Be Making Headway Also In somaliland." 
   
   
 "Do You Feel You Have Any Lien On The Elgon Caves And Bahr El Gazal 
 Clues?" Fred asked. 
   
   
 "No.  I Make You A Present Of Those Ideas.  I'M Sure I Hope You Find 
 The Stuff.  I'M Wondering, Though--I'M Wondering." 
   
   
 "I'Ll Bet You A Dollar I'M Thinking Of The Same Thing," Said Will. 
   
   
 "Out With It, Then." 
   
   
 "What'S To Prevent The Germans From Making Their Own Dicker With The 
 King Of The Belgians Or With The Congo Government, And Rifling The 
 Hoard On A Fifty-Fifty Or Some Such Basis?" 
   
   
 "Correct," Said Courtney.  "I Confess Myself Puzzled about That.  But I 
 Know No European Politics.  There May Be A Thousand Reasons.  And Then, 
 You Know, The King Of The Belgians Has The Name Of Being a Grasping 
 Dealer.  The Management Of His Private Zone On The Congo Is 
 Unspeakable.  It'S Possible The Germans May Prefer Not To Risk Putting 
 His Majesty On The Scent." 
   
   
 "Well, We'Ve Our Work Cut Out," Said Fred, Laughing and Yawning.  "That 
 Woman Has Started us Off With A Bad Name." 
   
   
 "That Is One Thing I Can Really Do For You," Courtney Answered.  "I'Ve 
 No Official Standing, But The Boys All Listen To Me.  I'Ll Tell Them--" 
   
   
 "For The Love Of God Don'T Tell Them Too Much!" Fred exclaimed. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 3 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 93 
 "I'Ll Tell Them You'Re Friends Of Mine," He Went On.  "I Believe That 
 Will Solve The Sporting License And Ammunition Problem.  As For The 
 Woman--If I Were In your Shoes I Would Steal A March On Her.  I 
 Wouldn'T Be Surprised if Your Licenses And Ammunition Permits Were Here 
 At The Hotel By Ten Tomorrow Morning.  I See They'Ve Sent Your Guns 
 Already.  Well, There'S A Train For Nairobi Tomorrow Noon, And Not 
 Another For Three Days.  I'D Take Tomorrow'S Train If I Were You.  I 
 Always Find In going anywhere The Start'S The Principal Thing.  You'Ll 
 Go?" 
   
   
 "We Will," We Answered, One After The Other. 
   
   
 "Good Night, Then, Boys;  I'Ll Be Going." 
   
   
 But We Walked with Him Down To His Hotel--I, And I Think The Others, 
 Full To The Teeth With The Pleasure Of Knowing Him, As Well As Of Envy 
 Of His Scars, His Five Or Six South African Campaigns, His Adventures, 
 And (By No Means Least) His Unblemished record As A Gentleman.  Merely 
 A Little Bit Of A Man With A Limp, But Better Than A Thousand Men Who 
 Lacked his Gentleness. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 94 
 Delights--Ah, Ten Are The Dear Delights (And The Book 
         Forbids Them, One By One)-- 
 The Broad Old Roads Of A Thousand Loves--Back Turned to The 
         Law--The Lawless Fun-- 
 Old Arts For New--Old Hours Reborn--And Who Shall Mourn 
         When The Sands Have Run? 
   
   
         I Was Old When They Told The Syren Tales 
         (All Ears Were Open Then!) 
         And The Harps Were Afire With Plucked desire 
         For The White Ash Oars Again-- 
         For Oars And Sail, And The Open Sea, 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 95 
         High Prow Against Pure Blue, 
         The Good Sea Spray On Eye And Lip, 
         The Thrumming Hemp, The Rise And Dip, 
         The Plunge And The Roll Of A Driven Ship 
         As The Old Course Boils Anew! 
   
   
 Sweetly I Call, The Captains Come. The Home Ties Draw At 
         Hearts In vain. 
 Potent The Spell Of Africa! Who East And South The Course 
         Has Ta'En 
 By Guardafui To Zanzibar May Go, But He, Shall Come Again. 
   
   
 Courtney Proved better Than His Word.  Our Big Game Licenses Arrived 
 After Breakfast, And Permits For Five Hundred rounds Of Rifle 
 Ammunition Each.  In an Envelope In addition Was Fred'S Check With The 
 Collector'S Compliments And The Request That We Kindly Call And Pay For 
 The Licenses.  In other Words We Now Had Absolution. 
   
   
   
 We Called, And Were Received as Fellow Men, Such Was The Genius Of 
 Courtney'S Friendship.  A Railway Man Looked in.  The Collector'S Dim 
 Office Became Awake With Jokes And Laughter. 
   
   
   
 "Going Up Today?" He Asked.  "I'Ll See You Get Berths On The Train." 
   
   
   
 We Little Realized at The Moment The Extent Of That Consideration;  But 
 Understanding Dawned fifteen Minutes Before High Noon When We Strolled 
 To The Station Behind A String Of Porters Carrying Our Luggage. 
 Courtney Was There To See Us Off, And He Looked worried. 
   
   
 "I'M Wondering Whether You'Ll Ever Get Your Luggage Through," He Said 
 With A Sort Of Feminine Solicitude.  It Was Strange To Hear The Hero Of 
 One'S School-Days, Mighty Hunter And Fearless Leader Of Forlorn 
 Campaigns, Actually Troubled about Whether We Could Catch Our Train. 
 But So The Man Was, Gentle Always And Considerate Of Everybody But 
 Himself. 
   
   
 There Was Law In this New Land, At All Events Along The Railway Line. 
 Not Even Handbags Or Rifles Could Pass By The Barrier Until Weighed and 
 Paid For.  Crammed in the Vestibule In front Of Us Were Fifty People 
 Fretfully Marshalling In line Their Strings Of Porters Lest Any Later 
 Comer Get By Ahead Of Them;  Foremost, With His Breast Against The 
 Ticket Window, Was Georges Coutlass.  Things Seemed not To Be 
 Proceeding as He Wished. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 96 
 There Was One Babu Behind The Window--A Mild, Unhappy-Looking Punjabi, 
 Or Dekkani Mussulman.  There Was Another At The Scales, Who Knew Almost 
 No English:  His Duty Was To Weigh--Do Sums--Write The Result On A 
 Slip, And Then Justify His Arithmetic To Office Babu And Passenger, 
 Before Any Sort Of Progress Could Be Made.  The Fact That All 
 Passengers Shouted at Him To Hurry Or Be Reported to Big Superiors 
 Complicated the Process Enormously;  And The Equally Discordant Fact 
 That No Passenger--And Especially Not Georges Coutlass--Desired or 
 Intended to Pay One Anna More Than He Could Avoid By Hook, Crook, Or 
 Argument, Made The Game Amusing To The Casual Looker-On, But Hastened 
 Nothing (Except Tempers).  The Temperature Within The Vestibule Was 
 112' By The Official Thermometer. 
   
   
 "You Pair Of Black Murderers!" Yelled coutlass As We Took Our Place In 
 Line.  "You Bloody Robbers! You Pickpockets!  You Train-Thieves!  Go 
 Out And Dig Your Graves!  I Will Make An End Of You!" 
   
   
 "You Should Not Use Abusive Language" The Babu Retorted mildly, 
 Stopping To Speak, And Then Again To Wipe His Spectacles, And His 
 Forehead, And His Hands, And To Glance At The Clock, And To Mutter What 
 May Or May Not Have Been A Prayer. 
   
   
 Coutlass Exploded. 
   
   
 "Shouldn'T, Eh?  Who The Hell Are You To Tell Me What I Shouldn'T Do? 
 Sell Me A Ticket, You Black Plunderer, D'You Hear!  Look!  Listen!" 
    
   
 He Snatched a Piece Of Paper From The Babu'S Hand And Turned to Face 
 The Impatient Crowd. 
   
   
 "This Hell-Cat--" (The Unhappy Babu Looked less Like A Hell-Cat Than 
 Any Vision Of The Animal I Ever Imagined) "Wants To Make Out That 
 Seventy-One Times Seven Annas And Three Pice Is Forty-Nine Rupees, 
 Eleven Annae!  Oh, You Charlatan!  You Mountebank!  You Black-Blooded 
 Robber!  You Miscreant!  Cut Your Throat, I Order You!" 
   
   
 The Babu Expostulated, Stammered, Quailed.  Coutlass Drew In his Breath 
 For The Gods Of Greece Alone Knew What Heights Of Fury Next.  But 
 Interruption Entered. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 97 
 "There, That'S Enough Of You!  Get To The Back Of The Line!" 
   
   
 The Man Who Had Promised us Berths Came Abruptly Through The Barrier, 
 And Unlike The Babu Did Not Appear Afraid Of Any One.  The Greek Let 
 Out His Gathered breath With A Bark Of Fury, Like A Seal Coming Up To 
 Breathe.  Taking That For A Symptom Of Opposition The Newcomer, Very 
 Cool In snow-White Uniform And Helmet, Seized coutlass By The Neck And 
 Hustled him, Arguing Like A Boiler Under Pressure, Through The Crowd. 
 The Greek Was Three Inches Taller, And Six Or Eight Inches Bigger Round 
 The Chest, But Too Astonished to Fight Back, And Perhaps, Too, Aware Of 
 The Neighborhood Of Old Da Gama'S Fort, Where More Than One Greek Was 
 Pining For The Grape And Olive Fields Of Hellas.  With A Final Shove 
 The Railway Official Thrust Him Well Out Into The Road. 
   
   
 "If You Miss The Train, Serve You Right!" He Said.  "Babus Are Willing 
 Servants, To Be Treated gently!" 
   
   
 Then He Saw Us. 
   
   
 "You'Re Late!  Where'S Your Luggage?  These Your Porters?  All 
 Right--Put You On Your Honor.  Go On Through.  Save Time.  Have Your 
 Stuff Weighed, And Settle The Bill At Nairobi.  All Of It, Mind!  Babu, 
 Let These People Through!" 
   
   
 Followed by Courtney, Who Seemed to Have Right Of Way Wherever It 
 Suited him To Wander, We Filed through The Gate, Crossed the Blazing 
 Hot Platform, And Boarded a Compartment Labeled "Reserved."  The 
 Railway Man Nodded and Left Us, To Hurry And Help Sell Tickets. 
   
   
 It Was An Indian Type Railway Carriage Be Left Us In, A Contraption Not 
 Ill-Suited to Africa--Nor Yet So Comfortable As To Diminish The 
 Sensation Of Travel Toward New Frontiers. 
   
   
 Each Car Was Divided into Two Compartments, Entirely Separate And 
 Entered from Opposite Ends;  Facing Ours Was The Rear End Of A 
 Second-Class Car, Into Which We Could Look If The Doors Were Open And 
 We Lay Feet-Foremost On The Berths.  The Berths Were Arranged 
 Lengthwise, Two Each Side, And One Above The Other. 
   
   
 It Was What They Called a Mixed train, Mixed that Is Of Freight And 
 Passengers--Third-Class In front, Second Next, Then First, And A Dozen 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 98 
 Little Iron Freight Cars Of Two Kinds In front.  In those Days There 
 Were Neither Tunnels Nor Bridges On That Railway, And There Was A 
 Single Seat On The Roof At Each End Of First- And Second-Class 
 Compartments Reached by A Ladder, For Any Passenger Enamored of The 
 View.  Even The Third-Class Compartments (And They Were Otherwise As 
 Deliberately Bare And Comfortless As Wood And Iron Could Make Them) Had 
 Lattice-Work Shades Over The Upper Half Of The Windows. 
   
   
 For The Babu'S Encouragement, And To Increase The Panic Of The 
 Ticketless, The Engineer Was Blowing The Whistle At Short Intervals. 
 Passengers, Released in quicker Order Now That A White Official Was 
 Lending The Two Babus A Hand, Began Coming Through The Barrier In 
 Sudden Spurts, Baggage In either Hand And Followed hot-Foot By Natives 
 With Their Heavier Stuff.  They Took Headers Into The Train, And The 
 Porters Generally Came Back Grinning. 
   
   
 "I See Through The Whistling Stunt," Will Announced.  "My, But That 
 Fellow On The Engine Has Faith;  Or Else The System'S Down Real Fine In 
 These Parts!  He Won'T Be Back For A Week.  Those Woolly-Headed porters 
 Are Going To Save Up His Commission And Hand It To Him When He Brings 
 The Down-Train In!  The Game'S Good:  He Whistles--Passenger 
 Runs--Can'T Make Change--Pays Two, Three, Four, Ten Times What The 
 Job'S Worth--And The Porters Divvy Up With The Engineer.  But Good 
 Lord, The Porters Must Be Honest!" 
   
   
 Presently A Pale White Man In khaki With A Red beard Entered our 
 Compartment, And Courtney Had To Make Room For Him On The Seat.  He 
 Apologized with Less Conviction Of Real Regret Than I Ever Remember 
 Noticing, Although The Pouches Under His Eyes Gave Him A Rather 
 World-Weary Look. 
   
   
 "Not Another First-Class Berth On The Train--Every Last One Engaged. 
 Might Be Worse.  Might Have Had To Ride With Indians.  Curse Of This 
 Country, Indians Are.  I'D Rid The Land Of 'Em Double-Quick If 
 Government 'Ud Pay Me A Rupee A Head--An' I'D Provide Cartridges!  But 
 Government Likes 'Em!  Ugh!  Ever Travel In one Compartment With A 
 Dozen Of 'Em?  Sleep In a Tent With A Score Of 'Em?  Share Blankets 
 With A Couple Of 'Em On A Cold Night?  No?  You Be Glad I'M Not An 
 Indian. One'S Enough!" 
   
   
 We Made Room For His Belongings, And Leaned from The Window All On One 
 Seat Together.  The Time To Start Arrived and Passed;  Hot Passengers 
 Continued spurting For The Train At Intervals--All Sorts Of 
 Passengers--English, Mauritius--French, Arab, Goanese, German, Swahili, 
 Indian, Biluchi, One Japanese, Two Chinamen, Half-Breeds, 
 Quarter-Breeds Of All The Hues From Ivory To Dull Red, Guinea-Yellow, 
 And Bleached out Black;  But The Second-Class Compartment Facing Our 
 Door Remained empty.  There Was A Name On The Card In the Little Metal 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 99 
 Reservation Frame, And Every Passenger Who Could Read English Glanced 
 At It, But Nobody Came To Claim It Even When The Engine'S Extra Shrill 
 Screaming and At Last The Ringing Of A Bell Warned courtney That Time 
 Was Really Up, And He Got Out On The Platform. 
   
   
 "Good-By," He Said Through The Window. "I'Ve Done What I Could To Bring 
 You Luck.  Don'T Be Tempted to Engage The First Servants Who Apply To 
 You At Nairobi.  If You Wait There A Week I'Ll Send My Kazimoto To You; 
  He'S A Very Good Gun-Bearer.  He'Ll Be Out Of A Job When I'M Gone.  I 
 Shall Give Him His Fare To Nairobi.  Engage Him If You Want A 
 Dependable Boy, But Remember The Rule About Dogs:  A Good One Has One 
 Master!  I Don'T Mean Kazimoto Is A Dog--Far From It.  I Mean, Treat 
 Him As Reasonably As You Would A Dog, And He'Ll Serve You Well.  He'S A 
 First-Class Nyamwezi, From German East.  Oh, And One More Scrap Of 
 Advice--": 
   
   
 He Came Close To The Window, But At That Moment The Engine Gave A Final 
 Scream And Really Started.  Passengers Yelled farewells. The Engine'S 
 Apoplectic Coughs Divided the Din Into Spasms, And There Came A Great 
 Bellowing From The Ticket Office.  He Could Not Speak Softly And Be 
 Heard At All.  Louder He Had To Speak, And Then Louder, Ending almost 
 With A Shout. 
   
   
 "The Best Way To Elgon Is By Way Of Kisumu And Mumias, Whatever Anybody 
 Else May Tell You.  And If You Find The Stuff, Or Any Of It," (He Was 
 Running Beside The Train Now)--"Be In no Hurry To Advertise The Fact! 
 Go And Make Terms First With Government--Then--After You'Ve Made 
 Terms--Tell 'Em You'Ve Found It!  Find The Stuff--Make Terms--Then 
 Produce What You'Ve Found!  Get My Meaning?  Good-By, All.  Good Luck!" 
   
   
 We Left Him Behind Then, Wiping The Sweat From His Wrinkled, Freckled 
 Forehead, Gazing after Us As If We Had All Been Lifelong Friends Of 
 His.  He Made No Distinction Between Us And Fred, But Was Equally 
 Anxious To Serve Us All. 
   
   
 "If That Man Isn'T White, Who Is?" Demanded will, And Then There Was 
 New Interest. 
   
   
 We Had Left The Ticket Office Far Behind, But The Train Was Moving 
 Slowly And There Was Still A Good Length Of Platform Before Our Car 
 Would Be Clear Of The Station Altogether.  We Heard A Roar Like A 
 Bull'S From Behind, And A Dozen Men--White, Black And Yellow--Came 
 Careering Down The Platform Carrying Guns, Baggage, Bedding, And All 
 The Paraphernalia That Travelers In africa Affect. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 100 
 First In the Van Was Georges Coutlass, Showing a Fine Turn Of Speed but 
 Tripping On A Bed-Sheet At Every Other Step, With His Uncased rifle In 
 One Hand, His Hat In the Other, An Empty Bandolier Over One Shoulder 
 And A Bag Slung By A Strap Swinging Out Behind Him.  He Made A Leap For 
 The Second-Class Compartment In front Of Us, And Landed on All Fours On 
 The Platform.  We Opened the Door Of Our Compartment To Watch Him 
 Better. 
   
   
 Once On The Platform He Threw His Rifle Into The Compartment And Braced 
 Himself To Catch The Things His Stampeding Followers Hurled after 
 Him--Caught Them Deftly And Tossed them In, Yelling Instructions In 
 Greek, Kiswahili, Arabic, English, And Two Or Three Other Languages. 
 It May Be That The Engineer Looked back And Saw What Was Happening (Or 
 Perhaps The Guard Signaled with The Cord That Passed through Eyeholes 
 The Whole Length Of The Train) For Though We Did Not Slow Down We 
 Gained no Speed until All His Belongings Had Been Hurled, And Caught, 
 And Flung Inside.  Then Came His Traveling Companions--Caught By One 
 Hand And Dragged on Their Knees Up The Steps.  They Were Heavy Men, But 
 He Snatched all Three In like A Boy Pulling Chestnuts From The Fire. 
   
   
 The First Was A Greek--Evil-Looking, And Without The Spirit That In the 
 Case Of Coutlass Made A Stranger Prone To Over-Look 
 Shortcomings--Dressed in khaki, With Rifle And Empty Bandolier.  Next, 
 Chin, Elbow, Hand And Knee Up The Steps Came A Fat, Tough-Looking 
 Goanese, Dressed anyhow At All In pink-Colored dirty Shirt, Dark Pants, 
 And A Helmet, Also With Rifle And Empty Bandolier.  I Judged he Weighed 
 About Two Hundred and Eighty Pounds, But Coutlass Yanked him In like A 
 Fish Coming Overside.  Last Came A Man Who Might Be Arab, Or Part-Arab, 
 Part-Swahili, Whom I Did Not Recognize At First, Fat, Black, Dressed in 
 The White Cotton Garments And Red fez Of The More Or Less Well-To-Do 
 Native, And Voluble With Rare Profanity. 
   
   
 "Johnson!" Shouted fred with Almost The Joy Of Greeting an Old 
 Acquaintance. 
   
   
 It Was Hassan, Sure Enough, Short-Winded and Afraid, But More Afraid Of 
 Being Left Behind Than Of The Manhandling.  Coutlass Took Hold Of His 
 Outstretched arm, Hoisted him, Cracked his Shins For Him Against The 
 Top Step, And Hurled him Rump-Over-Shoulders Into The Compartment, 
 Where The Other Greek And The Goanese Grabbed him By The Arms And Legs 
 And Hove Him To An Upper Berth, On Which He Lay Gasping Like A Fish Out 
 Of Water And Moaning Miserably.  Their Compartment Was A Mess Of 
 Luggage, Blankets, Odds-And-Ends, And Angry Men.  Coutlass Found A 
 Whisky Bottle Out Of The Confusion, And Swallowed the Stuff Neat While 
 The Other Greek And The Goanese Waited their Turn Greedily.  There Was 
 Nothing Much In that Compartment To Make A Man Like Hassan Feel At Home. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 101 
 "Those Greeks," Said Our Red-Bearded traveling Companion As We Shut The 
 Door Again, "Are Only One Degree Better Than Indians--A Shade Less 
 Depraved perhaps--A Sight More Dangerous.  I Sure Do Hate A Punjabi, 
 But I Don'T Love Greeks!  The Natives Call 'Em Bwana Masikini To Their 
 Faces--That Means Mister Mean White Y'Know.  They'Re A Lawless Lot, The 
 Greeks You'Ll Run Across In these Parts.  My Advice Is, Shoot First! 
 Walk Behind 'Em!  If They Ain'T Armed, Hoof 'Em Till They Cut An' Run! 
 Greeks Are No Good!" 
   
   
 We Introduced ourselves.  He Told Us His Name Was Brown. 
   
   
 "There'S Three Browns In this Country:  Hell-Fire Brown Of Elementaita, 
 Joseph Henry Brown Of Gilgil, And Brown Of Lumbwa.  Brown Of Lumbwa'S 
 Me.  Don'T Believe A Word Either Of The Other Two Browns Tell You! 
 Yes, We'Re All Settlers.  Country Good To Settle In?  Depends What You 
 Call Good.  If You Like Lots Of Room, An' Hunting, Natives To Wait An' 
 Your Own House On Your Own Square Mile--Comfortable Climate--No 
 Conventions--Nor No Ten Commandments, Why, It'S Pretty Hard To Beat. 
 But If You Want To Wear A White Shirt, And Be Moral, And Get Rich, It'S 
 Rotten!  You'Ve A Chance To Make Money If You'Re Not Over Law-Abiding, 
 For There'S Elephants.  But If You'Re Moral, And Obey The Laws, You 
 Haven'T But One Chance, An' She'S A Slim One." 
   
   
 "Well," Said Fred, Genially, "Tell Us About The Only One.  We'Re Men To 
 Whom The Ten Commandments Are--" 
   
   
 "You Look It!" Brown Interrupted.  "Well, What'S The Odds?  You'Ll 
 Never Find It, And Anyhow, Everybody Knows It'S Tippoo Tib'S Ivory.  I 
 Mean To Have A Crack At Spotting It Myself, Soon As I Get My Farm 
 Fenced an' One Or Two Other Matters Attended to.  Gov'Ment Offers Ten 
 Per Cent. To Whoever Leads 'Em To It, But They Can'T Believe Any One'S 
 As Soft As That Surely!  They'Ll Be Lucky If They Get Ten Per Cent. Of 
 It Themselves!  Man Alive, But They Say There'S A Whale Of A Hoard Of 
 It!  Hundreds O' Tons Of Ivory, All Waiting To Be Found, And Fossicked 
 Out, An' Took!  Say--If I Was Some O' Those Greeks For Instance, Tell 
 You What I'D Do:  I'D Off To Zanzibar, An' Kidnap Tippoo Tib.  The Old 
 Card'S Still Living.  I'D Apply A Red-Hot Poker To His Silver-Side An' 
 The Under-Parts O' His Tripe-Casings.  He'D Tell Me Where The Stuff Is 
 Quicker'N Winking!  Supposin' I Was A Greek Without Morals Or No 
 Compunctions Or Nothin', That'S What I'D Do!  I Don'T Hold With 
 Allowin' Any Man To Play Dog In the Manger With All That Plunder!" 
   
   
 "Have You A Notion Where The Stuff Might Be?" Fred wondered guilelessly. 
   
   
 "Ah!  That 'Ud Be Tellin'!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 102 
 We Had Crossed the Water That Divides Mombasa From The Mainland. 
 Behind Us Lay The Prettiest And Safest Harbor On All That 
 Thousand-League-Long Coast;  Before Us Was The Narrow Territory That 
 Still Paid Revenue And Owed nominal Allegiance To The Sultan Of 
 Zanzibar, Although Really Like The Rest Of Those Parts Under British 
 Rule.  We Were Bowling along Beside Plantations Of Cocoanut, Peanut, 
 Plantain And Pineapple, With Here And There A Thicket Of Strange Trees 
 To Show What The Aboriginal Jungle Had Once Looked like.  When We 
 Stopped at Wayside Stations The Heat Increased insufferably, Until We 
 Entered the Great Red desert That Divides The Coast-Land From The 
 Hills, And After That All Seemed death And Dust, And Haziness, And Hell. 
   
   
 At First We Passed occasional Baobabs, With Trunks Fifteen Or Twenty 
 Feet Thick And Offshoots Covering a Quarter Of An Acre.  Then The Trees 
 Thinned out To The Sparse And Shriveled all-But-Dead Things That 
 Struggle For Existence On The Border-Lines Between Man'S Land And 
 Desolation.  At Last We Drew Down The Smoked panes Over The Window To 
 Escape The Glare And Sight Of The Depressing Desolation. 
   
   
 The Sun Beat Down On The Iron Roof.  The Heat Beat Up From The Tracks. 
 Red dust Polluted the Drinking Water In the Little Upright Tank.  Dust 
 Filled eyes, Nostrils, Hair.  Dust Caked and Grew Stiff In the Sweat 
 That Streamed down Us.  Yet We Stopped once At A Station, And Humans 
 Lived there And A Man Got Off The Train.  A Lone Lean Babu And His 
 Leaner, More Miserable Native Crew Came Out And Eyed the Train Like 
 Vultures Waiting For A Beast To Die.  But We Did Not Die, And The Train 
 Passed on Into Illimitable Dusty Redness, Leaving Them To Watch The Hot 
 Rails Ribbon Out Behind Our Grumbling Caboose. 
   
   
 There Began To Be Carousing In the Second-Class Compartment Next Ahead 
 Of Us.  Our Own Brown Of Lumbwa Produced a Stone Crock Of Irish Whisky 
 From A Basket, Imbibed copiously, Offered us In turn The Glistening 
 Neck, Looked relieved at Our Refusal, And Grew Voluble. 
   
   
 "Hear Them Greeks An' That Goa.  You'D Think They Were Gentlemen O' 
 Breeding To Hear 'Em Carryin' On!  Truth Is We'Ve No Government Worth A 
 Moment'S Consid'Ration, An' Everybody Knows It, Greeks Included!  You 
 Men Lookin' For Farms?  Take Your Time!  Once You Get A Farm, An' Get 
 Your House Built, An' Stock Bought, An' Stuff Planted--Once You'Ve Got 
 Your Capital Invested so To Speak, They'Ve Got You!  Till Then You'Re 
 Free!  Till Then They'Ll Maybe Treat You With Consideration!  Till Then 
 You Leave The Country When You Like An' Kiss Yourselves Good-By To Them 
 An' Africa.  Till Then They'Ve Got No Hold!  The Courts Can Fine You, 
 Maybe, But Can They Make You Pay?  It'S None So Easy If You'Re Half 
 Awake!  But Take Me:  Suppose I Break A Reggylation.  What Happens? 
 They Know Where To Find Me--How Much I'Ve Got--Where It Is--An' If I 
 Don'T Pay The Fine, They Come An' Collar My Cattle An' Sticks!  D'You 
 Notice Any Greeks Applyin' For Farms?  Not No Crowds Of 'Em You Don'T! 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 103 
 I Don'T Know One Single Greek Who Has A Farm In all East Africa!  Any 
 Goas?  Not A Bit Of It!  Any Indians?  Not One!  So When A Few Extry 
 Elephants Get Shot, I Get The Blame--Down At Lumbwa, Where There Ain'T 
 No Elephants;  An' The Greeks, Goas, Arabs An' Indians Get Fat On The 
 Swag!  It'S Easy To Keep Track Of A White Man;  The Natives All Know 
 Him, An' His Name, An' Where He Lives, An' Report Everything He Does To 
 The Nearest Gov'Ment Officer.  But Greeks An' Goas An' Indians An' 
 Arabs Ain'T White, So The Natives Make No Mention Of 'Em.  They Do The 
 Lootin';  We Settlers Get The Blame;  An' The Whole Perishing Country'S 
 Going To Blazes As Fast As A Lump Of Ice Melting In hell--But Not So 
 Fast As I'D Like To See It Go.  Have Some O' This Whisky, Won'T You?" 
   
   
 I Was Scarcely Listening To Him, But He Seemed to Get Drunk Just "So 
 Far And No Further," And Fred found Him Worth Attention.  It Happened 
 That Fred, Will And I Were All Thinking Of The Same Thing.  Will Put A 
 Hand To His Neck And Stroked the Little Scar The Arab Knife Had Made In 
 Zanzibar. 
   
   
 "What Sort Of A Country'S This For Women?" Fred demanded. 
   
   
 "Which Women?" Brown Asked in sort Of Mild Amazement. 
   
   
 "White Women?" 
   
   
 "Rotten!  Leastwise, There Aren'T Any.  Yes, There'S Three.  Two 
 Officials' Wives, An' Pioneer Jane French.  Heard O' Her?  Walked from 
 South Africa, Jane Did--Hoofed it Along O' French, Bossed his Boys, 
 Drove The Cattle, Shot The Meat, Ran The Whole Shootin' Match, An' Runs 
 Him, Too, When He'S Sober An' She'S Drunk.  When They'Re Both Drunk 
 Everybody Ducks.  She'S Scarcely A Woman, She'S Sort Of 
 Three-Men-Rolled-Into-One.  Give Her A Horsewhip Ae She'Ll Manage The 
 Unruliest Crowd O' Savages Ever You Or She Set Eyes On!  Countin' Her 
 As One, An' The Two Officials Wives, An' Her On This Train, There'S 
 Four!" 
   
   
 Our Eyes Met.  I Awoke To Sudden Interest That Startled our Informant 
 And Made Him Curious In turn. 
   
   
 "On This Train?" 
   
   
 "On This Train. Didn'T You See Her?  She Was Watching You Chaps Through 
 The Window Slits Like The Queen O' Sheba Keepin' Tabs On Solomon.  Say, 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 104 
 What'S She Doing In this Country Anyhow?  I Made A Try To Get A Seat In 
 Her Carriage, But She Ordered me Out Like Aunt Jemima Puttin' Out The 
 Cat The Last Thing.  She'S Got A Maid In with Her, But The Maid Ain'T 
 White--Jew--Syrian--Levantine--Dago--Some Such Breed.  She'S In this 
 Compartment Next Behind." 
   
   
 Our Eyes Met Again.  Fred laughed, And Will Leaned forward To Whisper 
 To Me:  "She Heard What Courtney Said To Us About The Way To Mount 
 Elgon!" 
   
   
 "D'You Know Her Name?" Asked brown. 
   
   
 "No!" We All Three Lied together With One Voice. 
   
   
 "I Do!  I Seen It On The Reservation Card.  Lady Isobel Saffren Waldon! 
  Pretty High-Soundin' Patronymic, What?  Lady Isobel Saffren Waldon!" 
 He Repeated the Name Over And Over, Crescendo, With Growing Fervor. 
 "What'S A Woman With A Title Doin' D'You Suppose?  The Title'S No Fake. 
  She'S Got The Blood All Right, All Right!  You Ought To Ha' Heard Her 
 Shoo Me Out!  Lummy!  A Nestin' Hen Giving The Office To A Snake 
 Weren'T In it To Her An' Me!  Good Looker, Too!  What'S She Doin' In 
 East Africa?" 
   
   
 We Made No Shift To Answer. 
   
   
 "The Officials' Wives," He Went On, "Are Keen After Tippoo'S Ivory, 
 But, Bein' Obliged to Stay In the Station Except When Their Husbands Go 
 On Safari, An' Then Only Go Where Their Husbands Go, They'Ve No Show To 
 Speak Of.  Pioneer Jane'S Nuts On It, An' She'S Dangerous.  Jane'S As 
 Likely To Find The Stuff As Any One.  She'S Independent--Go Where She 
 Blooming Well Pleases--Game As A Lioness--Looks Like One, Too, Only A 
 Lioness Is Kind O' Softer An' Not So Quick In the Uptake.  My Money'S 
 On Jane For A Place.  But D'You Suppose This Lady Saffren 
 Whatshername'S Another One?  Them Greeks Ahead Of Us I'M Sure Of;  All 
 The Greeks In africa Are Huntin' For Nothin' Else.  But What About The 
 Dame?" 
   
   
 "Going To Join Her Husband, Perhaps," Suggested fred to Put Him Off. 
   
   
 "There'S No Man O' That Name In british East Or Uganda.  I Know 'Em 
 All--Every One." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 105 
 "Father--Brother--Uncle--Nephew--Oh, Perhaps She'S Just Traveling," 
 Said Fred. 
   
   
 "Just Traveling My Eye! Titled ladies Don'T Come 'Just Traveling' In 
 These Parts--Not By A Sight, They Don'T--Not Alone!" 
   
   
 He Helped himself To More Whisky, But Had Reached the Stage Where It 
 Had No Further Visible Effect On Him. 
   
   
 "Anyhow," He Said, Wiping The Neck Of The Jar With His Hand, "If She 
 Kids Herself She'Ll Be Let Go Where She Pleases--Why, She Kids Herself! 
  It Takes Pioneer Jane To Trespass Where Writs Don'T Run!  Jane Goes 
 Where Her Husband Don'T Dare Follow.  The Officials Don'T Say A Word. 
 Y'See There'S No Jail Where They Could Stow A White Woman And Observe 
 The Decencies.  So She Goes Over The Borderline Whenever She Sees Fit. 
 The King'S Writ Runs Maybe For Thirty Miles North O' This Railway. 
 Once Over That They Can'T Catch You.  But Unless You'Re A Black Man, Or 
 Pioneer Jane, The Natives Tip The Gov'Ment Off An' Gov'Ment Rounds You 
 Up Afore You Get Two-Thirds The Way.  They'Ll Take Less Than Half A 
 Chance With Her Ladyship Or I'M A Dutchman.  Why!  How Would It Look To 
 Have To Bring Her Back Between Two Native Policemen?  She'Ll Not Be 
 Allowed five Miles Outside Nairobi Township!" 
   
   
 He Up-Ended his Whisky Again, Consumed about A Pint Of It, And Settled 
 Down To Sleep.  We Took Him By The Legs And Arms And Threw Him On The 
 Upper Berth To Stew In the Cabined heat Under The Roof. 
   
   
 "It'S Good Monty'S Not With Us," Said Fred.  He Sat Down And Laughed at 
 Our Surprise That He Should State Such Heresy.  "Monty Mustn'T Break 
 Laws, But Who Cares If We Do?" 
   
   
 "Laws?" Said Will Disgustedly.  "I Don'T Care Who Makes, Or Breaks The 
 Laws Of This Land!  Let'S Beat It!  Let'S Join Monty In london And Make 
 Plans For Some Other Trip.  Everybody'S After This Ivory.  We Haven'T A 
 Look-In.  Even If We Knew Where To Look For It We'D Be Followed.  Let'S 
 Take The Next Train Back From Nairobi, And The Next Boat For Europe!" 
   
   
 Fred rubbed his Hands Delightedly, And Stroked his Beard Into The Neat 
 Point It Refuses To Keep For Long At A Time In very Hot Weather. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 106 
 "Let'S Stay In nairobi" He Said, "At Least Until Courtney Sends That 
 Boy He Promised us.  We Can Put In the Time Asking Questions, And 
 Then--" 
   
   
 "What Then?" Grumbled will. 
   
   
 "There May Be Truth In what Brown Of Lumbwa Says About A Dead-Line." 
   
   
 "Dead-Line?" 
   
   
 "Beyond Which The King'S Writ Doesn'T Run." 
   
   
 "Betcherlife There'S Truth In it!" Brown Mumbled from The Upper Berth. 
   
   
 Will Exploded silently, Going Through The Motions Of Reeling Off All 
 The Bad Language He Knew--Not An Insignificant Performance. 
   
   
 "He'S Really Asleep Now," I Said, Standing On The Lower Berth And 
 Lifting The Man'S Eyelid To Make Sure. 
   
   
 "Who Cares?" Said Will. "He'S Heard.  We'Ve Given The Game Away.  The 
 Woman Heard Courtney Shout About How To Reach Mount Elgon.  So Did This 
 Sharp.  Now He Hears Fred talk About Dead-Lines And The King'S Writ And 
 Breaking Laws!  The Game'S Up!  Me For The Down-Train And A Steamer!" 
   
   
 We Smoked in silence, Rendered more Depressing By The Deepening Gloom 
 Outside.  With The Evening It Grew No Cooler.  What Little Wind There 
 Was Followed the Train, So That We Traveled in stagnation.  Utter 
 Darkness Brought No Respite, But The Fascination Of Flitting Shadows 
 And The Ever-New Mystery Of African Night.  The Train Drew Up At Last 
 In A Station In the Shadow Of Great Overleaning Mountains, And The Heat 
 Shut Down On Us Like Hairy Coverings.  We Seemed to Breathe Through 
 Thicknesses Of Cloth, And The Very Trees That Cast Black Shadow On The 
 Platform Ends Were Stifling For Lack Of Air. 
   
   
 "One Hour For Diner!" Called the Guard, Walking Limply Along The Train. 
  "Just An Hour For Dinner!  Dinner Waiting!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 107 
 He Was Not At All A Usual-Looking Guard.  He Was Dressed in riding 
 Breeches And Puttee Leggings, And Wore A Worn-Out Horsey Air As If In 
 Protest Against The Obligation To Work In a Black Man'S Land.  In 
 Countries Where The Half-Breed and The Black Man Live For And Almost 
 Monopolize Government Employment Few White Men Take Kindly To Braid And 
 Brass Buttons.  That Fellow'S Contempt For His Job Was Equaled only By 
 The Babu Station Master'S Scorn Of Him And His Own For The Station 
 Master.  Yet Both Men Did Their Jobs Efficiently. 
   
   
 "Only An Hour For Dinner, Gents--Train Starts On Time!" 
   
   
 "Guard!" Called a Female Voice We All Three Recognized--"Guard!  Come 
 Here At Once, I Want You!" 
   
   
 We Left Brown Of Lumbwa Snoring a Good Imitation Of The Battle Of 
 Waterloo On The Upper Berth, And Filed out To The Dimly-Lighted 
 Platform.  A Space In the Center Was Roofed with Corrugated iron And 
 Under That The Yellow Lamplight Cast A Maze Of Moving Shadows As The 
 Passengers Swarmed toward The Dining-Room.  The Smell Of Greasy Cooking 
 Blended with The Reek Of Axle And Lamp Oil.  At The Platform'S Forward 
 End Shadowy Figures Were Throwing Cord-Wood Into The Tender, And The 
 Thump-Thump-Thump Of That Sounded like Impatience;  Everything Else 
 Suggested lethargy. 
   
   
 "Guard!" Called the Voice Again.  "Come Here, Guard!" 
   
   
 He Stopped in passing To Close Our Windows And Lock Our Compartment 
 Door Against Railway Thieves. 
   
   
 "There'S A Man Asleep In there," I Said. 
   
   
 "The 'Eat 'Ll Sober 'Im!" He Grinned, Slamming The Last Window Down. 
 "What'Ll You Bet 'Er 'Ighness Don'T Want Me To Fetch Dinner To 'Er? 
 She Was In the Train In mombasa Two Hours Afore Startin' Time, An' The 
 Things She Ordered me To Do 'Ud Have Made A 'Alf-Breed think 'E Was 
 Demeaning Of 'Imself!  I 'Aven'T Seen The Color Of 'Er Money Yet.  If 
 She Wants Dinner She Gets Out And Walks Or 'Er Maid Fetches It--You 
 Watch!" 
   
   
 Coutlass, The Other Greek And The Goanese Staggered out Beside Us On To 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 108 
 The Platform, Drunk Enough Not To Know Whether Hassan Was With Them Or 
 Not.  He Came Out And Stood Beside Them In a Sort Of Alert Defensive 
 Attitude. 
   
   
 "Guard!" Called the Voice Again.  "Where Is The Man?" 
   
   
 We Followed the Last Of The Crowd Through The Screened doors, And Took 
 Seats At A Table Marked "First Class Only!"  There Were Four Men There 
 Ahead Of Us, Two Government Officials Disinclined to Talk;  A 
 Missionary In a Gray Flannel Shirt, Suffering From Fever And Too 
 Suspicious To Say Good Evening;  And A Man In charge Of That Section Of 
 The Line, Who Checked the Station Master'S Accounts And Counted money 
 In A Tray Between Mouthfuls.  Between Us And The Second-Class Tables 
 Was A Wooden Screen On Short Legs, And Beyond That Arose Babel. 
 Second-Class Is Democratic Always, And Talks With Its Mouth Full.  In 
 Addition To Our Privilege Of Paying More For Exactly The Same Food, We 
 Enjoyed exclusiveness, A Dirty Table-Cloth, And The Extra Smell From 
 The Kitchen Door.  (The Table-Cloth Was Dirty Because The Barefoot 
 Goanese Waiters Invariably Stubbed their Feet Against A Break In the 
 Floor And Spilt Soup Exactly In the Same Place.) 
   
   
 We Had Scarcely Taken Our Seats When Coutlass Swaggered in, Closely 
 Followed by His Gang.  Inside The Door He Turned on Hassan. 
   
   
 "Black Men Eat Outside!" He Snarled, And Shoved him Out Again Backward. 
  Then He Came Over To Us And Stood Leering at The Framed sign, "First 
 Class Only," Avoiding Our Eyes, But Plainly At War With Us. 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!" He Growled.  "You Think You'Re Popes Or Something! 
 You Three Would Want A Special Private Piece Of Earth To Spit On!"  He 
 Raised his Voice To A Sort Of Scream.  "I Proclaim One Class Only!" 
   
   
 At That He Lifted his Foot About Level With His Chest And Kicked the 
 Screen Over.  The Crash Brought Everybody To His Feet Except The Two 
 Officials And The Railway Man.  They Continued eating, And The Railway 
 Man Continued counting Copper Coins As If Life Depended on That Alone. 
   
   
 "Sit Down All!" Yelled coutlass.  "You Will Eat With Better Appetite 
 Now That You Can Behold The Blushes Of These Virgins!"  Then He 
 Swaggered over To The Long Table, Thrust The Other Greek And The 
 Goanese Into Chairs On Either Side Of Him, And Yelled for Food.  It Was 
 The First Time We Had Been Referred to Publicly As Virgins, And I Think 
 We All Three Felt The Strain. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 109 
 The Goanese Manager--A Wizened old Black Man With Perfectly White 
 Hair--Came Running From The Kitchen In a State Of Near-Collapse, The 
 Sweat Streaming Off Him And His Hands Trembling. 
   
   
 "What Shall I Do?" He Asked, Almost Upsetting The Railway Man'S Tray Of 
 Money.  "That Man Is Crazy!  He Came In once Before And Broke The 
 Dishes!  Twice He Has Come In here And Eaten And Refused to Pay!  What 
 Shall I Do?" 
   
   
 "Nothing," Said The Railway Man.  "Go On Serving Dinner.  Serve Him 
 Too." 
   
   
 The Manager Hurried out Again And The Running To And Fro Resumed.  Then 
 In Came The Guard. 
   
   
 "First-Class For Two On Trays!" He Shouted. 
   
   
 The Railway Man Beckoned to Him And He Winked as He Passed by Us. 
   
   
 "When You'Ve Seen To That, And Had Your Own Meal, I Want You," Said The 
 Railway Man. 
   
   
 "Thought You Said The Lady'S Maid Would Have To Come And Fetch The 
 Food?"  I Said Maliciously As The Guard Passed my Chair A Second Time. 
   
   
 "So I Did.  But If You Know How To Refuse Her, Just Teach Me!  I Told 
 Her Flat To Have The Maid Fetch It.  She Let On They'Re Both Too 
 Frightened to Cross The Platform In the Dark!  Never Saw Anything Like 
 'Em!  Tears!  An' Dignified!  When I Climbed down They Was Too Afraid 
 Next To Be Left Alone.  Swore Train-Thieves 'Ud Murder 'Em!  I Had To 
 Leave 'Em My Key To Lock 'Emselves In with Until I Come Back With The 
 Grub!  What D'You Think Of That?" 
   
   
 But Our Soup Came, And One Could Not Think And Eat That Stuff 
 Simultaneously.  The Railway Man Looked up For A Moment, Saw My Face, 
 And Explained in a Moment Of Expansiveness That Meat Would Not Keep In 
 That Climate But Was "Perfectly Good" When Cooked. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 110 
 "Besides," He Added, "You'Ll Get Nothing More Until You Reach Nairobi 
 Tomorrow Noon!" 
   
   
 That Turned out To Be Not Quite True, But As An Argument It Worked.  We 
 Swallowed, Like The Lined-Up Merchant Seamen Taking Lime-Juice Under 
 The Skipper'S Eye. 
   
   
 The Guard Grew Impatient And Went Into The Kitchen, But Had Scarcely 
 Got Through The Door When A Scream Came From The Direction Of The Train 
 That Brought Him Back On The Run.  No Black Woman Ever Screams In just 
 That Way, And In a Land Of Black And Worse-Than-Black Men Imagination 
 Leaps At A White Woman'S Call For Help. 
   
   
 There Was A Stampede For The Door By Every One Except The Greeks And 
 Goanese And The Railway Man.  (He Had To Guard The Money.)  We Poured 
 Through The Screen Doors, The Guard Fighting To Burst Between Us, And, 
 Because With A Self-Preserving Instinct That I Have Never Thought Quite 
 Creditable To The Human Race, Everybody Ran Toward His Own Compartment, 
 It Happened that We Three And The Two Officials And The Guard Came 
 First On The Scene Of Trouble. 
   
   
 Brown Of Lumbwa Was Still Drunk-Affectionate, It Seemed, By That Time. 
   
   
 "You'Ve No Call To Be 'Fraid Of Me, Li'L Sweetheart!"  The Door Was 
 Open.  Within The Compartment All Was Dark, But Every Sound Emerged. 
 There Came A Stifled scream. 
   
   
 "Li'L Stoopid!  What D'You Come In for, If You'Re 'Fraid O' Poor Ole 
 Brown?  I Won'T Hurt You." 
   
   
 The Guard Passed between Us And Went Up The Step.  He Listened, Looked, 
 Disappeared through The Open Door, And There Came A Sound Of Struggling. 
   
   
 "Whassis?" Shouted brown. "An Interloper?  No You Don'T!  This Is My 
 Li'L Sweetheart!  She Came In to See Me--Didn'T You, Matilda Ann?" 
   
   
 The Woman Apparently Broke Free.  The Guard Yelled for Help.  Fred and 
 One Of The Government Officials Were Nearest And As They Entered they 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 111 
 Passed the Woman Coming Out.  I Recognized lady Saffren Waldon'S Syrian 
 Maid, With The Big Railway Key In her Fist That The Guard Had Left With 
 Her.  By That Time There Was A Considerable Crowd About Our Car, Unable 
 To See Much Because It Stood In the Way Of The Station Lamp-Light.  She 
 Slipped through--To The Right--Not Toward Lady Isobel'S Compartment, 
 And I Lost Sight Of Her Behind Some Men.  I Ran After Her, But She Was 
 Gone Among The Shadows, And Although I Hunted up And Down And In and 
 Out I Could Find Her Nowhere. 
   
   
 When I Returned to Our Car Brown Of Lumbwa Was Out On The Platform With 
 His Hair All Tousled and A Wild Eye.  The Guard Was Wiping a Bloody 
 Nose And Everybody Was Inventing an Account Of What Nobody Had Seen. 
   
   
 "Scrag Him!" Advised some Expert On Etiquette. 
   
   
 "What The Hell Right Has Anybody Got," Demanded brown With Querulous 
 Ferocity, "To Interfere Between Me And A Lady?  Eh?  Whose Compartment 
 Was She In?  Me In hers Or Her In mine?  Eh?  Me.  I'M Sleeping. 
 Hasn'T A Gent A Right To Sleep?  Next Thing I Know She'S Fingerin' My 
 Whiskers.  How Should I Know She'S Not Balmy On Red beards An' Makin' 
 Love To Me?  What Right'S She Got In my Compartment Anyhow?  Who Let 
 Her In?  Who Asked her?  What If I Did Frighten Her?  What Then?" 
   
   
 "Who Was She?" Demanded the Official.  "Had Anybody Seen Her Before?" 
   
   
 "The Maid Attending The Lady In the Next Compartment," Said I. 
   
   
 "Are You Sure?" 
   
   
 "Positive." 
   
   
 "Very Well.  Guard!  See Who Is In there!" 
   
   
 The Guard Wiped blood From His Nose And Obeyed orders.  We Clustered 
 Round The Steps To Hear. 
   
   
 "'Ow Many'S In here?" He Demanded. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 112 
 There Was No Answer.  He Tried the Door And It Opened 'Readily. 
   
   
 "'Scuse Me, But Is There Two Of You?  I Can'T See In the Dark." 
   
   
 "Oh, Is That Our Dinner?" Said Lady Saffren Waldon'S Voice. 
   
   
 "No Ma'Am, Not The Dinner Yet." 
   
   
 "Why Not, Pray?" 
   
   
 "There'S Folks Accusin' Your Maid O' Enterin' The Next Compartment 
 An'--An'--" 
   
   
 "Nonsense!  My Maid Is Here! You Kept Us So Long Waiting For Dinner We 
 Were Both Asleep!  Ah!  There'S Light At Last, Thank Heaven!" 
   
   
 Two Native Porters Running along The Roofs Were Dropping Lamps Into The 
 Holes Appointed for Them, And The Train That Had Been A Block Of 
 Darkness Hewn Out Of The Night Was Now A Monster, Many-Eyed. 
   
   
 "They'Re Both In there, So 'Elp Me!" The Guard Reported, Retreating 
 Backward Through The Door And Leering at Us. 
   
   
 There Remained nobody, Except The Still Indignant Brown Of Lumbwa To 
 Levy Charges, And The Crowd Remembered its Dinner (Not That Anything 
 Could Be Expected to Grow Cold In that Temperature). 
   
   
 "The Train Will Start On Time!" Announced the Babu Station Master, And 
 Everybody Hurried to The Dining-Room.  Brown Came With Us, Bewildered. 
   
   
 "How Did It Happen?" He Demanded.  "When Did We Get Here?  Why Wasn'T I 
 Called for Dinner?  How Did She Get In?  Where Did She Go To?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 113 
 "Oh, Come And Eat Curried cow, It'S Lovely!" Answered will. 
   
   
 Fred overtook Us At The Door, And Whispered: 
   
   
 "Our Things Have Been Gone Through, But I Can'T Find That Anything'S 
 Missing." 
   
   
 Within The Dining-Room Was New Ground For Discontent.  The British Race 
 And Its Offshoots Wash, But Disbelieve With Almost Unanimity In water 
 As A Drink.  Every Guest At Either Table Had Left At His Place A Partly 
 Emptied glass Of Beer, Or Brandy And Soda, Or Whisky.  Each Looked for 
 The Glass On His Return, And Found It Empty. 
   
   
 "Those Greeks!" Exclaimed the Goanese Manager, With A Fearful Air, And 
 Shoulders Shrugged to Disclaim His Own Responsibility. 
   
   
 Coutlass And The Other Greek Were Sitting at A Table With A Gorged 
 Look, Glancing Neither To The Right Nor Left, Yet Not Eating.  I Looked 
 At The Railway Official, Who Had Not Left His Seat.  It Struck Me He 
 Was Laughing Silently, But He Did Not Look Up.  The Crowd, After The 
 Manner Of All Crowds, Stormed at The Goanese Manager. 
   
   
 "What Can I Do?  What Shall I Do?" Wailed the Unhappy Little Man. 
 "They Are Bigger Than I!  They Were Greedy!  They Took!" 
   
   
 All Those Charges Were Evidently True, And Stated mildly.  Coutlass 
 Rose To His Feet. 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!" He Thundered, And His Stomach Stuck Out Over The Table 
 It Was So Full Of Various Drinks.  "Why Should We Not Take?  Who Isn'T 
 Thirsty In this Hell Of A Place?  Who Leaves Good Drink Deserves To 
 Lose It!" 
   
   
 "What Shall I Do?" Wailed the Goanese Manager. 
   
   
 "Take The Orders For Drinks Again," Said The Railway Man, Glancing Up 
 From His Figures. "Bring The Account To Me." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 4 (The Njo Hapa Song) Pg 114 
 The Waiters Ran To Fill Orders, And A Babel Of Abuse At The Second 
 Table Was Hurled at Coutlass And His Friends;  But They Lid Not Leave 
 The Table Because There Was Another Course To Come, And, As The Manager 
 Had Said, They Were Greedy.  Then In came The Guard, His Face A 
 Blood-And-Smudgy Picture Of Discontent. 
   
   
 "Say!" He Yelled.  "Ain'T I Goin' To Get Those Two First-Classes On 
 Trays?"  He Came And Stood By Us.  "Did You Ever 'Ear The Likes Of It? 
 They Swear Neither Of 'Em Was Out Of The Compartment.  They Call Me A 
 Liar For Askin' For My Key Back!  They Swear I Never Gave It To 'Em, 
 'An They Never Asked for It, An' Their Door Was Never Locked, Nor 
 Nothin'!" 
   
   
 He Passed on To The Railway Man. 
   
   
 "I'Ll Have To Borry Your Key, Sir.  Mine'S Lost.  Can'T Open Doors 
 Until I Get One From Somewhere." 
   
   
 The Railway Man Passed him His Key With A Bored expression And No 
 Remark. 
   
   
 "Don'T Forget That I Want You Presently," Be Ordered.  "Be Quick And 
 Get Your Own Dinner." 
   
   
 "I'M In love With This Ivory Hunt!" Fred whispered to Us Across The 
 Table.  "If She'S Sure Our Pockets Are Worth Going Through, I'M Sure 
 There'S Something To Look For!" 
   
   
 "Are You Sure The Maid Went Through Our Things?" Asked will. 
   
   
 "Quite.  I Left My Shooting Jacket Hanging On A Hook.  Everything Was 
 Emptied out Of The Pockets On To The Berth." 
   
   
 "I Think I'Ll Make You A Confession Presently," Said I, With A Look At 
 Will That Just Then He Did Not Understand. 
   
   
 "Never Confess Before Dessert And Coffee!" Advised fred.  "It Spoils 
 The Appetite." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 115 
 Our Fathers Praised the Old Accustomed things, 
         The Privilege Of Chiefs, The Village Wall 
 Within Whose Circling Dark Monumme* Sings 
         O' Nights Of Belly-Full And Ease And All 
 They Taught Us We Should Prize And Praise 
         (Only Of Dearth And Pestilence Should Be Our Fears;) 
 And Now Behind Us Are The Green, Regretted days. 
         The Water In the Desert Is Our Tears. 
                 Then Ye, Who At The Waters Drink 
                 Of Freedom, Oh With Pity Think 
                 On Us, Who Face The Desert Brink 
                 Your Fathers Entered willingly. 
   
   
 Our Fathers Mocked the Might Of The Unseen, 
         Teaching That Only What We Saw And Felt 
 Was Good To Fight About--What Aye Had Been, 
         Old-Fashioned foods That Their Forefathers Smelt, 
 Old Stars Each Night Illuming The Old Sky, 
         The Warm Rain Softening Ere Women Till The Ground, 
 The Soft Winds Singing, Only Ask Not Why! 
         And Now Our Weeping Is The Desert Sound. 
                 Oh Ye, Who Gorge The Daily Good, 
                 Unquestioned heirs Of All Ye Would, 
                 Spare Not Too Timidly The Blood 
                 Your Fathers Shed so Willingly. 
   
   
 Our Fathers Taught Us That The Village Good Was Best. 
         Later We Learned the Red, New Tribal Creed 
 That Our Place Was The Sun--Night Owned the Rest 
         Unless Their Treasure Profited our Greed! 
 But Now We Gather Nothing Where Our Fathers Sowed, 
         For Harvest Grim The Vultures Wait In rows 
 As, Urged by Greedier Than Us With Gun And Goad, 
         Yoked two By Two The Slave Safari Goes. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 116 
                 Oh Ye, Who From True Judgment Shrink, 
                 Nor Gentleness With Courage Link, 
                 Be Thoughtful When The Cup Ye Drink 
                 Your Fathers Spilled so Willingly. 
   
   
 ---------- 
 * Monumme (Kiswahili)--Lit. Male-Man In his Prime. 
 ---------- 
   
   
 The Guard Procured his Trays At Last, Delivered them At A Run, Returned 
 In A Hurry And Swallowed his Own Meal At A Side-Table.  Then, With His 
 Mouth Full, He Reported for Orders To The Railway Official, Who Was 
 Still Checking Figures.  The Room Was Beginning To Grow Empty. 
 Coutlass And His Greek Friend And The Goanese Sat Almost Alone At The 
 Far End Of The Other Table, Finishing Their Pudding.  I Had Not Noticed 
 Until Then That The Guard Was A Singularly Little Man.  He Stood Very 
 Few Inches Taller Than The Seated official.  I Suppose That Hitherto In 
 Some Way His Energy Had Seemed to Increase His Inches. 
   
   
 "Are There Handcuffs In the Caboose?" 
   
   
 "Yes, Sir." 
   
   
 "Fetch Them." 
   
   
 In Spite Of Brown Of Lumbwa'S Protests, Who Wept At The Notion Of 
 Having To Eat Alone, We Were In the Act Of Settling Our Bills And 
 Going.  But Mention Of Handcuffs Suggesting Entertainment, We Lit 
 Cigars And, Imagining We Stayed for Love Of Him, Brown Cooed at Us. 
   
   
 "I'Ve The Darbies In my Pocket, Sir!" 
   
   
 I Thought The Guard Looked more Undersized than Ever.  He Would Have 
 Made A Fair-Sized middle-Weight Jockey. 
   
   
 "Tell That Greek--Coutlass His Name Is--To Come Here." 
   
   
 With His Tongue Stuck Into His Cheek And A Wink At Us The Guard Obeyed. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 117 
 "He Says For You To Go To 'Ell, Sir!" He Reported after A Moment'S 
 Interview. 
   
   
 "Very Well. Arrest Him!" 
   
   
 "He'Ll Need help," I Interrupted.  "My Two Friends And I--" 
   
   
 "Oh, Dear No," Said The Official. "He Is Fully Up To His Work." 
   
   
 So We Moved our Chairs Into Position For A Better View. 
   
   
 The Guard Advanced fox-Terrierwise To Within About Six Paces Of 
 Coutlass. 
   
   
 "Up With Both Your 'Ands, Thermopylea!" He Snapped.  "Your Bloomin' 
 Reckonin'S Come!" 
   
   
 Coutlass Showed tobacco-Stained teeth For Answer, And His Friends 
 Rutched their Chairs Clear Of The Table, Ready For Action.  Yet They 
 Were Taken Unawares.  With A Terrier'S Speed the Guard Pounced on 
 Coutlass, Seized him By The Hair And Collar, Hurled him, Chair And All, 
 Under A Side-Table, And Was On The Far Side Of The Table Kicking His 
 Prostrate Victim In the Ribs Before Either Greek Or Goanese--Likewise 
 Upset In the Sudden Onslaught--Could Gather Themselves And Interfere. 
   
   
 The Goanese Was First On His Feet.  He Hurled a Soda-Water Bottle.  The 
 Guard Ducked and The Bottle Smashed into Splinters On The Wall.  Before 
 The Sound Of Smashing Glass Had Died the Goanese Was Down Again, Laid 
 Out By Blows On The Nose And Jugular.  Then Again The Guard Kicked 
 Coutlass, Driving Him Back Under The Table From Which He Was Trying To 
 Emerge On All Fours. 
   
   
 The Second Greek Looked more Dangerous.  His Face Grew Dark With Rage 
 As The Lips Receded from His Yellow Teeth.  He Reached toward His Boot, 
 But Judged there Were Too Many Witnesses For Knife Work And Rushed in 
 Suddenly, Yelling Something In greek To Coutlass As He Picked up A 
 Chair To Brain The Guard With.  He Swung The Chair, But The Guard Met 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 118 
 It With Another One, Dodged him, And Tripped him As He Passed.  In 
 Another Second It Was His Turn To Be Kicked in the Ribs Until He Yelled 
 For Mercy.  (An Extra Large Dinner And All Those Assorted drinks In 
 Addition To What They Had Had In the Train Made Neither Man'S Wind 
 Good.) 
   
   
 No Mercy Was Forthcoming.  He Was Kicked, More And More Violently, 
 Until The Need of Crawling Through The Door To Safety Dawned on His 
 Muddled wits And He Made His Exit From The Room Snake Fashion.  By That 
 Time Coutlass Was On His Feet, And He Too Elected to Force The Issue 
 With A Chair.  The Guard Sprang At The Chair As Coutlass Raised it, 
 Bore It Down, And Drove His Fist Hard Home Into The Greek'S Right Eye 
 Three Times Running. 
   
   
 "'Ave You 'Ad Enough?" He Demanded, Making Ready For Another Assault. 
 The Goanese Had Recovered and Staggered to His Feet To Interfere, But 
 Coutlass Yielded. 
   
   
 "All Right," He Said, "Why Should I Fight A Little Man?  I Surrender To 
 Save Bloodshed!" 
   
   
 "Put Your 'Ands Out, Then!" 
   
   
 Coutlass Obeyed, And Was Handcuffed ignominiously. 
   
   
 "Outside, You!" 
   
   
 A Savage Kick Landed in exactly The Place Where The Goanese Least 
 Expected and Most Resented it.  He Flew Through The Door As If The 
 Train Had Started, And Then Another Kick Jolted coutlass. 
   
   
 "Forward, March!  Left-Right-Left-Right!" 
   
   
 With Hands Manacled in front And The Inexorable Bantam Guard Behind, 
 Coutlass Came And Stood Before The Railway Official, Who At Last 
 Condescended not To Seem Engrossed in his Accounts. 
   
   
 "'Ere He Is, Sir!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 119 
 "I Suppose You Know, My Man, That I Have Magisterial Powers On This 
 Railway?" Said The Official. 
   
   
 Coutlass Glowered but Said Nothing. 
   
   
 "This Is Not The First Time You Have Made Yourself A Nuisance.  You 
 Broke Dishes The Last Time You Were Here." 
   
   
 "That Is Long Ago," Coutlass Objected.  "That Was On The Day The Place 
 Was First Opened to The Public.  There Was A Celebration.  Every One 
 Was Drunk." 
   
   
 "You Broke Plates And Refused to Pay The Damage!' 
   
   
 "Officials Were Drunk.  I Saw Them!" 
   
   
 "The Damage Amounted to Seventeen Rupees, Eight Annas." 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!  All The Crockery From Mombasa To Nairobi Isn'T Worth 
 That Amount!  I Shall Not Pay!" 
   
   
 "Now There'S Another Bill For Those Drinks You And Your Friends Stole 
 When Passengers' Backs Were Turned.  I Saw You Do It!" 
   
   
 "Why Didn'T You Object At The Time?" Sneered coutlass. 
   
   
 "Here Is The Bill:  Twenty-Seven Rupees, Twelve Annas.  Total, 
 Forty-Five Rupees, Four Annas.  You May Make The Manager A Present Of 
 The Odd Sum For His Injured feelings, And Call It An Even Fifty. 
 Settle Now, Or Wait Here For The Down-Train And Go To Jail In mombasa!" 
   
   
 "Wait In this Place?" Asked coutlass, Aghast. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 120 
 "Where Else?  There'Ll Be A Down Passenger Train In a Week." 
   
   
 "I Pay!" Said The Greek, With A Hideous Grimace. 
   
   
 "Take The Irons Off Him, Then." 
   
   
 The Guard Unlocked the Handcuffs And Coutlass Began To Fumble For A 
 Money-Bag. 
   
   
 "Give Me A Receipt!" He Demanded, Thumbing Out The Money. 
   
   
 "You Are The Receipt!" Said The Official.  "An Englishman Would Have 
 Been Sent To Jail With A Fine, And Have Paid The Bill Into The Bargain. 
  You'Re Treated leniently Because You Can'T Be Expected to Understand 
 Decent Behavior.  You'Re Expected to Learn, However.  Next Time You 
 Will Catch It Hot!" 
   
   
 "All Aboard!" Called the Guard Cheerfully. "All Aboard!" 
   
   
 "Tears, Idle Tears!" Said Brown Of Lumbwa, Taking My Arm And Fred'S. 
   
   
 "Thass Too True--Too True!  They'D Have Jailed an Englishman--Me, 
 F'Rinstance.  One Little Spree, An' They'D Put Me In the Fort!  One 
 Li'L Indishcresshion An' They'D Jug Me For Shix Months!  Him They Let 
 Go Wi' A Admonisshion!  It'S 'Nother Case O' Barabbas, An' A Great 
 Shame, But You Can'T Change The English.  They'Re Ingcorridgible! 
 Brown O' Lumbwa'S My Name," He Added by Way Of Afterthought. 
   
   
 "Take Advice And Get Under Blankets Afore You Go To Sleep, Gents!" 
 Warned the Guard.  All Windows Were Once More Opened wide, And Every 
 One Was Panting. 
   
   
 "A Job On This 'Ere Line'S A Circus!" He Grinned.  "I'M Lucky If 
 There'S Only One Fight Before Nairobi!  'Ave Your Blankets Ready, 
 Gents!  Cover Yourselves Afore You Sleep!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 121 
 That Sounded like A Joke.  The Sweat Poured from Every One In streams. 
 The Hot Hair Cushions Were Intolerable.  The Dust Gathered from The 
 Desert Stirred and Hung, And There Was Neither Air To Breathe Nor 
 Coolness Under All Those Overhanging Mountains. 
   
   
 "Get Under Your Blankets, Gents!" Advised the Guard, Passing Down The 
 Train;  And Then The Train Started. 
   
   
 I Had The Upper Berth Opposite Brown'S, Where It Was Hottest Of All 
 Because Of The Iron Roof.  Drunk Though He Was, I Noticed that The 
 First Thing Brown Did After We Had Hoisted him Aloft Was To Dig Among 
 The Blankets Like A Dog And Make The Best Shift He Could Of Crawling 
 Under Them.  With One Blanket Twisted about His Neck And Shoulders And 
 The Other Tangled about His Knees He Remarked to The Roof That His Name 
 Was Brown Of Lumbwa, And Proceeded to Sob Himself To Sleep.  He Had 
 Made The Journey A Dozen Times, So Knew What He Was Doing.  I Drew On 
 My Own Blankets, And Stifling, Blowing Out Red dust, Remembered a 
 Promise. 
   
   
 "Will!" I Said.  "Tell Fred what Happened to Us In zanzibar While He 
 And Monty Viewed the Moon!" 
   
   
 "We Agreed not To," He Answered, But It Seemed to Me He Might Arouse 
 His Own Enthusiasm If He Did Tell. 
   
   
 "Who'S Afraid Of Fred?" Said I. 
   
   
 That Settled it. 
   
   
 "One Of You Shall Tell Before You Sleep!" Fred announced, Sitting Up. 
 "Who Feareth Not God Nor Regardeth Me Will Blench Before The Prospect 
 Of A Sleepless Night!  Speak, America!" 
   
   
 He Took Out A Cleaning Rod From His Gun-Case, And Proceeded to Stir 
 Will'S Ribs And Whack His Feet.  In a Minute There Was A 
 Rough-House--Panting, And Bursts Of Laughter--Cracks Of The Cleaning 
 Rod On Will'S Bare Legs--The Sound Of Hands Slipping On Sweaty Arms--And 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 122 
 "Murder!" Yelled brown Of Lumbwa, Waking Up.  "Murder!  Oh, Mur-Durrr!" 
   
   
 "Shut Up, You Fool!"  I Shouted at Him.  But He Only Yelled the Louder. 
   
   
 "I Knew These Tears Were Not For Nothing!" He Wailed.  "It Was 
 Premonition!  Pass Me The Whisky!  Pass It Up Here!  Oh, Look!  They'Re 
 At Each Other'S Throats!  Murder!  Oh, Mur-Durrr! Pass The Whisky Or 
 I'Ll Come Down And Kill Everybody In self-Defense! Murrrrr-Durrr!" 
   
   
 They Stopped fooling Because His Idiotic Screams Could Be Heard All 
 Down The Train. 
   
   
 "There," Said Brown, "You See, I'Ve Saved two Worthless Lives!  Very 
 Foolish Of Me!  Pass The Whisky!  See That I Save A Little For The 
 Morning!" 
   
   
 At That He Fell Asleep Again;  And Because Fred threatened to Start New 
 Commotion And Wake Him Unless Will Or I Confessed at Once, Will Took Up 
 The Tale, I Leaning Over The Edge Of My Berth To Prompt Him.  Fred 
 Laughed all Through The Story, And Finally Crawled under His Blanket 
 Again To Lie Chuckling at The Underside Of Brown Of Lumbwa'S Berth. 
   
   
 "I Don'T See What We'Ve Scored by Telling Him," Said Will To Me. 
 "We'Ve Merely Given Him A Peg To Hang Jokes On!" 
   
   
 But I Knew That Now Will Had Told The Story He Would Not, For Very 
 Shame, Withdraw From The Venture Until We Should Have Demonstrated that 
 No Lady Saffren Waldon, Nor Sultan Of Zanzibar, Nor Germans, Nor Arabs 
 Could Make Us Afraid.  And It Seemed to Me That Was Sufficient 
 Accomplishment For One Night. 
   
   
 The Train'S Progress Slowed and Grew Slower.  The Panting Of The Engine 
 Came Back To Us In savage Blasts.  We Were Climbing By Curves And 
 Zigzags Up The Grim Dark Wall Of Mountains.  And As We Mounted inch By 
 Inch, Foot By Foot, The Air Freshened and Grew Cooler--Not Really Cool 
 Yet By A Very Jacob'S Ladder Of Degrees, But Delectable By Comparison. 
   
   
 There Was Something Peacefully Exhilarating In the Thought Of Rising 
 From The Red dead Level Of That Awful Plain, Littered with The Bones Of 
 Camels And The Slaves Whom Men Pinned into The Yokes To Perish Or 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 123 
 Survive In twos.*  As We Mounted foot By Foot We Fell Asleep.  Later, 
 As We Mounted higher, We Shivered under Blankets.  There Is A Spirit 
 And A Spell Of Africa That Grip Men Even In sleep.  The Curt Engine 
 Blasts Became In my Dreams The Panting Of Enormous Beasts That Fought. 
 A Dream-Continent Waged war On Itself, And Bled.  I Saw The Caravans 
 Go, Thousands Long, The Horsed and White-Robed arab In the Lead--The 
 Paid, Fat, Insolent Askaris, Flattering and Flogging--Slaves Burdened 
 With Ivory And Other, Naked, New Ones, Two In a Yoke, Shivering Under 
 The Askari'S Lash, The Very Last Dogged by Vultures And Hyenas, Lean As 
 They, Ill-Nourished on Such Poor Picking. 
   
   
 ----------- 
 * It Was The Cheerful Arab Rule Never To Release One Slave From The 
 Yoke If The Other Failed on The Journey, On The Principle That Then The 
 Stronger Would Be More Likely To Care For, Encourage, And Drive The 
 Weaker. 
 ----------- 
   
   
 Then I Saw Elephants In herds Five Thousand Strong That Screamed and 
 Stormed and Crashed, Flattening Out Villages In rage That Man Should 
 Interfere With Them--In Fear Of The Ruthless Few Armed men With Rifles 
 In Their Rear.  Whole Herds Crashed pell-Mell Through Artfully Staged 
 Undergrowth Into Thirty-Foot-Deep Pits, Where They Lingered and Died of 
 Thirst, That Arabs (Who Sat Smoking Within Hail Until They Died) Might 
 Have The Ivory. 
   
   
 And All I Saw In my Dream Was Nothing To The Things I Really Was To 
 See.  None Of The Cruelty Of Man, None Of The Rage And Fear Of Animal 
 Have Vanished yet From Africa.  Some Of The Cruelty Is More Refined; 
 Some Of The Herds Are Smaller;  Some Good Is Making Headway But Africa 
 Is Unchanged on The Whole.  It Is A Land Of Nightmares, With Lovely 
 Oases And Rare Knights Errant;  A Land Whose Past Is Gloom, Whose 
 Present Is Twilight And Uncertainty, But Whose Future Under The Rule Of 
 Humane Men Is Immeasurable, Unimaginable. 
   
   
 In My Dream Din Followed crash And Confusion Until The Engine'S 
 Screaming at Last Awoke Me.  My Blanket Had Fallen To The Floor And I 
 Was Shivering From Cold.  I Jumped down To Recover It And Realized it 
 Was Dawn Already.  We Were Bowling along At A Fine Pace Past Green 
 Trees And Undulating Veld, And I Wondered why The Engine Should Keep On 
 Screaming Like A Thing Demented.  I Knelt On Fred'S Berth To Lean From 
 The Window And Look Ahead.  We Were Going Round A Slight Curve And I 
 Could See The Track Ahead For Miles. 
   
   
 Three Hundred yards Away A Full-Grown Rhinoceros Stood Planted on The 
 Track, His Flank Toward Us And His Interest Fixed on Anything But 
 Trains.  He Was Sniffing The Cool Morning, Looking The Other Way. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 124 
 "Wake Up, You Fellows!" I Yelled, And Fred and Will Put Their Heads 
 Through The Window Beside Me Just In time To See The Rhino Take Notice 
 Of The Train At Last.  When The Engine Was Fifty Yards From Him He 
 Wheeled, Took A Short-Sighted squint At It, Snifted, Decided on War, 
 And Charged.  The Engineer Crowded on Steam. 
   
   
 "He'S A Game Enough Sport!" Chuckled fred. 
   
   
 "He'S A Fool!" Grinned will. 
   
   
 He Was Both, But He Never Flinched.  He Struck The Cow-Catcher Head-On 
 And Tried to Lift It Sky-High.  The Speed and Weight Of The Engine Sent 
 Him Rolling Over And Over Off The Track, And The Shock Of The Blow Came 
 Backward Along The Train In thunderclaps As Each Car Felt The Check. 
 The Engineer Whistled him A Requiem And A Cheer Went Up From Fifty 
 Heads Thrust Out Of Windows.  But He Was Not Nearly Done For. 
   
   
 He Got Up, Spun Around Like A Polo Pony To Face The Train, Deliberately 
 Picked out Level Going, And Charged again.  This Time He Hit The Car We 
 Were In, And Screams From The Compartment Behind Us Gave Notice That 
 Lady Saffren Waldon'S Maid Was Awake And Looking Through A Window Too. 
 He Hit The Running-Board Beside The Car, Crumpled it To Matchwood, 
 Lifted the Car An Inch Off The Track, But Failed to Disrail Us.  The 
 Car Fell Back On The Metal With A Clang, And The Rhino Recoiled 
 Sidewise, To Roll Over And Over Again.  This Time The Impetus Sent Him 
 Over The Edge Of A Gully And We Did Not Doubt He Was Dead At The Bottom 
 Of It. 
   
   
 The Guard Stopped the Train And Came Running To See What The Damage 
 Amounted to. 
   
   
 "Any Gent Got His Rifle Handy?" He Shouted.  "The Train'S Ahead O' 
 Time.  There'S Twenty Minutes For Sport!" 
   
   
 We Dived for Our Rifles, But Coutlass Had His And Was On The Track 
 Ahead Of Us, His Eye A Ghastly Sight From The Guard'S Overnight 
 Attentions, His Face The Gruesome Color Of The Man Who Has Eaten And 
 Drunk Too Much, But His Undamaged eye Ablaze, And Nothing Whatever The 
 Matter With His Enthusiasm. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 125 
 "Give Me A Cartridge--A Cartridge, Somebody!" He Yelled. Gassharamminy! 
 He'S Not Dead!  I Saw Him Kick As He Went Over The Edge Legs Upwards! 
 Give Me One Cartridge And I'Ll Finish Him!" 
   
   
 By That Time Every Male Passenger Was Out On The Track, Some In 
 Night-Shirts, Some In shirts And Pants, Some With Next-To-Nothing at 
 All On, But Nearly All With Guns.  Somebody Gave Coutlass A Handful Of 
 Cartridges That Fitted his Mauser Rifle And He Was Off In the Lead Like 
 A Hero Leading a Forlorn Hope, We After Him.  We Searched high And Low 
 But Lost All Trace Of The Rhino, And At The End Of Half An Hour The 
 Engine'S Whistle Called us Back.  There Were Blood And Hair All Over 
 The Engine--Blood And Hair On Our Car, But The Rhino Had Been As 
 Determined in defeat As In attack, And If He Died of His Wounds He 
 Contrived to Do It Alone And In dignity. 
   
   
 "That Leaves Coutlass With Six Cartridges," Said I, Overtaking Fred. 
 "Let'S Hope Their Owner Asks For Them Back." 
   
   
 The Owner Did Ask For Them.  He Stood With His Hand Out By The Door Of 
 The Greek'S Compartment. 
   
   
 "You Didn'T Use Those Cartridges," He Said. 
   
   
 "But I Will!" Sneered coutlass.  "Out Of My Way!" 
   
   
 He Sprang For His Door And Slammed it In the Man'S Face, And The Other 
 Greek And The Goanese Jeered through The Window.  I Caught Sight Of 
 Hassan Beside Them Looking Gray, As Unhappy Black Men Usually Do.  Will 
 Saw Him Too. 
   
   
 "The Cannibal'S Ours," He Said, "Supposing We Want Him And Play Our 
 Cards Kind O' Careful." 
   
   
 The Next Thing To Delay The Train Was An Elephant, Who Walked the Track 
 Ahead Of Us And When The Engine Whistled only Put On Speed.  Hypnotized 
 By The Tracks That Reached in parallel Lines To The Horizon, With Trunk 
 Outstretched, Ears Up, And Silly Tail Held Horizontally He Set Himself 
 The Impossible Task Of Leaving Us Behind.  The More We Cheered, The 
 More The Engine Screamed, The Fiercer And Less Dignified became His 
 Efforts;  He Reached a Speed at Times Of Fourteen Or Fifteen Miles An 
 Hour, And It Was Not Until, After Many Miles, He Reached a Culvert He 
 Dared not Cross That He Switched off At Right Angles.  Realizing Then 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 126 
 At Last That The Train Could Not Follow Him To One Side He Stood And 
 Watched us Pass, Red-Eyed, Blown And Angry.  He Had Only One Tusk, But 
 That A Big One, And The Weight Of It Caused him To Hold His Head At A 
 Drunken-Looking angle. 
   
   
 "Stop The Train!" Yelled coutlass, Brandishing His Rifle As He Climbed 
 To The Seat On The Roof. But The Guard, Likewise On The Roof At His End 
 Of The Train, Gave No Signal And We Speeded on.  We Were Already In the 
 World'S Greatest Game Reserve, Where No Man Might Shoot Elephant Or Any 
 Other Living Thing. 
   
   
 We Began To Pass Herds Of Zebra, Gnu, And Lesser Antelope--More Than A 
 Thousand Zebra In one Herd--Ostriches In ones And Twos--Giraffes In 
 Scared half-Dozens--Rhinoceros--And Here And There Lone Lions. 
 Scarcely An Animal Troubled to Look Up At Us, And Only The Giraffes Ran. 
   
   
 Watching Them, Counting Them, Distinguishing The Various Breeds We 
 Three Grew Enormously Contented, Even Will Yerkes Banishing Depression. 
  Obviously We Were In a Land Of Good Hunting, For The Strictly Policed 
 Reserve Had Its Limits Beyond Which Undoubtedly The Game Would Roam. 
 The Climate Seemed perfect.  There Was A Steady Wind, Not Too Cold Or 
 Hot, And The Rains Were Recent Enough To Make All The World Look Green 
 And Bounteous. 
   
   
 To Right And Left Of Us--To North And South That Is--Was Wild Mountain 
 Country, Lonely And Savage Enough To Arouse That Unaccountable Desire 
 To Go And See That Lurks In the Breast Of Younger Sons And All 
 True-Blue Adventurers.  We Got Out A Map And Were Presently Tracing On 
 It With Fingers That Trembled from Excitement Routes Marked with Tiny 
 Vague Dots Leading Toward Lands Marked "Unexplored."  There Were Vast 
 Plateaus On Which Not More Than Two Or Three White Men Had Trodden, And 
 Mountain Ranges Almost Utterly Unknown--Some Of Them Within Sight Of 
 The Line We Traveled on.  If The Map Was Anything To Go By We Could 
 Reach Mount Elgon From Nairobi By Any Of Three Wild Roads.  Fred and I 
 Underscored the Names Of Several Places With A Fountain Pen. 
   
   
 "And Say!" Said Will.  "Look Out Of The Window!  If We Once Got Away 
 Into Country Like That, Who Could Follow Us!" 
   
   
 "But You Can'T Get Away!" Said A. Weary Voice From The Upper Berth. 
 "I'M Brown Of Lumbwa.  That'S My Name, Gents, And I Know, Because I 
 Tried!  Thought I Was Sound Asleep, Didn'T You!  Well, I Weren'T! 
 Listen To Me, What Happens.  You Start Off.  They Get Wind Of It.  They 
 Send The Police Helter-Skelter Hot-Foot After You--Native Police--No 
 Officer--Masai They Are, An' I Tell You Those Masai Can Make Their 
 Sixty Miles A Day When They'Re Minded an' No Bones About It Either! 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 127 
 Maybe The Masai Catches You And Maybe Not.  S'Posing They Do They Can'T 
 Do Much.  They'Ve Merely A Letter With 'Em Commanding You To Return At 
 Once And Report At The Gov'Ment Office.  And O' Course--Bein' Ignorant, 
 Same As Me, An' Hot-Headed, An' Eager--You Treat That Contumelious An' 
 Tip The Masai The Office To Go To Hell.  Which They Do Forthwith. 
 They'Re So Used to Bein' Told To Go To Hell By Wishful Wanderers That 
 They Scarcely Trouble To Wait For The Words.  Presently They Draw A 
 Long Breath An' Go Away Again Like Smoke Being Blowed downwind.  An' 
 You Proceed onward, Dreamin' Dreams O' Gold An' Frankincense An' 
 Freedom." 
   
   
 "Well, What Next?" Said I, For He Made A Long Pause, Either For 
 Reminiscence Or Because Of Headache. 
   
   
 "Whisky Next!" He Answered.  "I Left A Little For The Morning, Didn'T 
 I?  I Almost Always Do.  Hold The Bottle Up To The Light--No, No, 
 You'Ll Spill It!--Pass It Here!  Ah-H-H--Gug-Gug!" 
   
   
 He Finished what Was Left And Tried to Hurl The Empty Bottle Through 
 The Window, But Missed and Smashed it Against The Woodwork. 
   
   
 "'Sapity!" He Murmured.  "Means Bad Luck, That Does!  Poor Ole Brown O' 
 Lumbwa--Poor Ole Fella'.  Pick Up The Pieces, Boys!  Pick 'Em Up 
 Quick--Might Get Some O' Poor Ole Brown'S Bad Luck--Cut Yourselves Or 
 What Not.  Pick 'Em Up Careful Now!" 
   
   
 We Did, And It Took Ten Minutes, For The Splinters Were Scattered 
 Everywhere. 
   
   
 "Next Time You Do A Thing Like That You Shall Get Out An' Walk!" 
 Announced fred. 
   
   
 "That 'Ud Be Only My Usual Luck!" He Answered mournfully.  "But I Was 
 Tellin' How You Notify The Masai Police To Go To Hell, An' They Oblige. 
  It'S The Last Obligin' Anybody Does For You.  Every Native'S A Bush 
 Telegraph--Every Sleepy-Seemin' One Of 'Em!  They Know Tracks In an' 
 Out Through The Scrub That Ain'T On Maps, An' They Get Past You Day Or 
 Night Wi'Out You Knowin' It, An' Word Goes On Ahead O' You--Procedes 
 You As The Sayin' Is.  You Come To A Village.  You Need milk, Food, 
 Porters Maybe, An' Certainly Inf'Mation About The Trail Ahead.  You 
 Ask.  Nobody Answers.  They Let On Not To Sling Your Kind O' Lingo. 
 Milk--Never Heard O' Such Stuff--Cows In them Parts Don'T Give Milk! 
 Food?  They'Re Starving.  It Isn'T Overeating Makes Their Bellies Big, 
 It'S Wind.  Porters?  All The Young Men Are Lame, An' Old 'Uns Too Old, 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 128 
 An' The Middle 'Uns Too Middle-Aged--An' Who Ever Heard Of A Native 
 Woman Workin' Anyhow.  Who Tills The Mtama Patch, Then?  It Don'T Get 
 Tilled, Or Else The Women Only 'Tend To It At Tillin' Time.  Nobody 
 Works At Anythin' About The Time You Come On The Scene, For Work Ain'T 
 Moral, Pleasin' Nor Profitable, An' There You Are!  As For The Trail 
 Ahead, Lions An' Cannibals Are The Two Mildest Kind Of Calamities They 
 Guarantee You'Ll Meet." 
   
   
 "You Don'T Have To Believe Them," I Argued.  "No Man In his Senses 
 Would Start Without Porters Of His Own--" 
   
   
 "Who Never Run Away, An' Never, Oh Never Go Lame O' Course!" Said Brown. 
   
   
 "Porters Enough And To Spare," I Continued.  "And Food For A Month Or 
 Two--" 
   
   
 "How Are You Going To Get Away Right Under Their Noses With Food For A 
 Month Or Two?" Demanded brown.  "You'Ve Got To Live Off The Country 
 After A Certain Distance.  The Further You Go, The Worse For You, For 
 They'Ll Sell You Nothing and Give You Less.  By And By Your Porters Get 
 Tipped off By The Natives Of Some Village You Spend A Night At.  You 
 Look For 'Em Next Mornin' And Where Are They?  Gone!  There Are Their 
 Loads, An' No One To Carry 'Em!  You'Ve Got To Leave Your Loads An' 
 Return, An' The Police You Told So Stric'Ly To Go To Hell Meet You With 
 Broad Grins And Lead You To The Gov'Ment Office.  There The Collector, 
 Or, What'S Worse, The 'Sistant Collector, Gives You A Lecture On Infamy 
 An' The Law Of Doin' As You'D Be Done By.  You Ask For Your Loads Back, 
 An' He Laughs At You.  An' That'S All About It, Excep' That Next Time 
 You Happen To Want A Favor Done You By Gov'Ment You Get A Lecture 
 Instead!  No, You Can'T Get Away, An' It'S No Use Tryin'!  If You Was 
 Greeks Maybe, Or Arabs, Yes.  Bein' English, The Indian Penal Code, 
 Which Is White Man'S Law In these Parts, 'Ll Get You Sure!" 
   
   
 Brown Of Lumbwa Sighed at Recollection Of His Wrongs, Turned over, And 
 Went To Sleep Again. The Train Bowled along Over High Veld, Cutting In 
 Half Magnificent Distances And Stopping Now And Then At Stations Whose 
 Excuse For Existence Was Unimaginable.  We Stopped at A Station At Last 
 Where The Hindu Clerk Sold Tea And Biscuits.  The Train Disgorged its 
 Passengers And There Was A Scramble In the Tiny Ticket Office Like The 
 Rush To Get Through Turnstiles At A Football Game At Home, Only That 
 The Crowd Was More Polyglot And Less Good-Natured. 
   
   
 Coutlass, His Greek Friend And The Goanese Being Old Travelers On That 
 Route Were Out Of The Train First, First Into The Room, And First 
 Supplied with Breakfast.  Fred and I Were Nearly Last.  Brown Of Lumbwa 
 Refused to Leave His Berth But Lay Moaning Of His Wrongs, And The 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 129 
 Iniquity Of Drink Not Based on Whisky.  I Missed will In the Scramble, 
 And Although It Was Nearly Half An Hour Before I Got Served i Did Not 
 Catch Sight Of Him In all That Time. 
   
   
 I Counted eleven Nations Taking Tea In that Tiny Room And There Were 
 Members Of Yet Other Tribes Strolling The Platform, Holding Themselves 
 Aloof With The Strange Pride Of The Pariah The Wide World Over. 
   
   
 When Will Came In he Was Grinning, And His Ears Seemed to Stick Out 
 More Than Usual, As They Do When He Is Pleased with Himself. 
   
   
 "Didn'T I Say Fat Johnson Was Ours If We'D Play Our Cards Right?" He 
 Demanded. 
   
   
 "You Mean Hassan?" 
   
   
 "He'D Had No Breakfast.  He'D Had No Supper.  He Had No Money.  The 
 Greeks Took Away What Little Money He Did Have On The Pretext That He 
 Might Buy A Return Ticket And Desert Them.  They Seem To Think That A 
 Day Or Two'S Starvation Might Make Him Good And Amenable.  I Found Him 
 Trying To Beg A Bite From A Full-Blooded arab, And Say! They'Re A 
 Loving Lot.  The Arab Spat In his Eye!  I Offered to Buy Him Eats But 
 He Didn'T Dare Come In here For Fear The Greeks 'Ud Thrash Him, So I 
 Slipped him Ten Rupees For Himself And He'S The Gratefulest Fat Black 
 Man You Ever Set Eyes On.  You Bet It Takes Food And Lots Of It To Keep 
 That Belly Of His In shape.  There'S A Back Door To This Joint.  He 
 Slipped round Behind And Bribed the Babu To Feed him On The Rear Step, 
 Me Standing Guard At The Corner To Keep Greeks At Bay.  He'S Back In 
 The Car Now, Playing Possum." 
   
   
 "Let'S Trade Him For Brown Of Lumbwa," Suggested fred genially.  "Call 
 Him Into Our Car And Kick Brown Out!" 
   
   
 "Trade Nothing!  I Tell You The Man Is Ours!  Call Him, And He'Ll 
 Bargain.  Let Him Be, And The Next Time The Greeks Ill-Treat Him He'Ll 
 Come Straight To Us In hope We'Ll Show Him Kindness." 
   
   
 "Swallow Your Tea Quickly, Solomon!" Fred advised him.  "There Goes The 
 Whistle!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 130 
 It Was Fresh Tea, Just That Minute Made For Him.  Will Gulped down The 
 Scalding Stuff And Had To Be Thumped on The Back According To Fred. 
 With Eyes Filled with Water He Did Not See What I Did, And Fred was Too 
 Busy Guarding against Counter-Blows.  The Most Public Place And The 
 Very Last Minute Always Suited those Two Best For Playing Horse. 
   
   
 "Thought You Said Johnson Was Asleep," Said I. 
   
   
 "Possuming," Coughed will.  "Shamming Sleep To Fool The Greeks." 
   
   
 "Possuming, No Doubt," I Answered, "But The Greeks Are On.  He Has Just 
 Come Scurrying Out Of Lady Saffren Waldon'S Compartment.  The Greeks 
 Watched him And Made No Comment!' 
   
   
 We Piled into Our Own Appointed place And Sat For A While In silence. 
   
   
 "All Right Said Will At Last, Lighting His Pipe.  "I Own I Felt Like 
 Quitting Once.  I'Ll See It Through Now If There'S No Ivory And Nothing 
 But Trouble!  That Dame Can'T Thimblerig Me!" 
   
   
 "We'Re Supposed to Know Where The Ivory Is," Grinned fred.  "Keep It 
 Up!  They'Ll Hunt Us So Carefully That They'Ll Save Us The Trouble Of 
 Watching Them!" 
   
   
 "I'M Beginning To Think We Do Know Where The Ivory Is," Said I.  "I 
 Believe It'S On Mount Elgon And They Mean To Prevent Our Getting It." 
   
   
 "If That Turns Out True, We'Ll Have To Give Them The Slip, That'S All," 
 Said Fred, And Got Out His Concertina Just As Monty Always Played chess 
 When His Brain Was Busy, Fred likes To Think To The Strains Of His 
 Infernal Instrument.  One Could Not Guess What He Was Thinking about, 
 But The Wide World Knew He Was Perplexed, And Lady Saffren Waldon In 
 The Next Compartment Must Have Suffered. 
   
   
 After A While He Commenced picking Out The Tunes Of Comic Songs, And 
 Before Long Chanced on One That Somebody In the Front Part Of The Train 
 Recognized and Began To Sing.  In ten Minutes After That He Was Playing 
 Accompaniments For A Full Train Chorus And The Seared zebra And Impala 
 Bolted to Right And Left, Pursued by Tarara-Boom-De-Ay, 
 Ting-A-Ling-A-Ling, And Other Non-Homeric Dirges That In those Days 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 131 
 Were Dying an All-Too-Lingering Death. 
   
   
 It Was To The Tune Of After The Ball That The Engine Dipped 
 Head-Foremost Into A Dry Watercourse, And Brought The Train To A 
 Jaw-Jarring Halt.  The Tune Went On, And The Song Grew Louder, For 
 Nobody Was Killed and The English-Speaking Races Have A Code, 
 Containing Rules Of Conduct Much More Stringent Than The Law Of The 
 Medes And Persians.  Somebody--Probably Natives From A Long Way Off, 
 Who Needed fuel To Cook A Meal--Had Chopped out The Hard-Wood Plate On 
 Which The Beams Of A Temporary Culvert Rested.  Time, White Ants, 
 Gravity And Luck Had Done The Rest.  It Was A Case Thereafter Of Walk 
 Or Wait. 
   
   
 "Didn'T I Tell You?" Moaned brown Of Lumbwa.  "Didn'T I Say Walkin' 'Ud 
 Be Only Just My Luck?" 
   
   
 So We Walked, And Reached nairobi A Long Way Ahead Of Coutlass And His 
 Gang, Whose Shoes, Among Other Matters, Pinched them;  And We Were 
 Comfortably Quartered in the One Hotel Several Hours Before The Arrival 
 Of Lady Saffren Waldon And Those Folk Who Elected to Wait For The 
 Breakdown Gang And The Relief Train. 
   
   
 It Was A Tired hotel, Conducted by A Tired once-Missionary Person, Just 
 As Nairobi Itself Was A Tired-Looking Township Of Small Parallel Roofs 
 Of Unpainted corrugated iron, With One Main Street More Than A Mile 
 Long And Perhaps A Dozen Side-Streets Varying In length From Fifty Feet 
 To Half A Mile. 
   
   
 He Must Have Been A Very Tired surveyor Who Pitched on That Site And 
 Marked it As Railway Headquarters On His Map.  He Could Have Gone On 
 And Found Within Five Miles Two Or Three Sightlier, Healthier Spots. 
 But Doubtless The Day'S March Had Been A Long One, And Perhaps He Had 
 Fever, And Was Cross.  At Any Rate, There Stood Nairobi, With Its 
 "Tin-Town" For The Railway Underlings, Its "Tin" Sheds For The Repair 
 Shops, Its Big "Tin" Station Buildings, And Its String Of 
 Pleasant-Looking Bungalows On The Only High Ground, Where The 
 Government Nabobs Lived. 
   
   
 The Hotel Was In the Middle Of The Main Street, A Square Frame Building 
 With A Veranda In front And Its Laundry Hanging Out Behind.  Nairobi 
 Being a Young Place, With All Africa In which To Spread, Town Plots 
 Were Large, And As A Matter Of Fact The Sensation In our Corner Room 
 Was Of Being In a Wilderness--Until We Considered the Board Partition. 
 Having Marched fastest We Obtained the Best Room And The Only Bath, But 
 Next-Door Neighbors Could Hear Our Conversation As Easily As If There 
 Had Been No Division At All.  However, As It Happened, Neither Coutlass 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 132 
 And His Gang Nor Lady Saffren Waldon And Her Maid Were Put Next To Us 
 On Either Side.  To Our Right Were Three Poles, To Our Left A Jew And A 
 German, And We Carried on A Whispered conversation Without Much Risk. 
   
   
 She And Her Maid Arrived last, As It Was Growing Dusk.  We Had Already 
 Seen What There Was To See Of The Town.  We Had Been To The Post-Office 
 On The White Man'S Habitual Hunt, For Mail That We Knew Was 
 Non-Existent.  And I Had Had The First Adventure. 
   
   
 I Walked away From The Post-Office Alone, Trying To Puzzle Out By 
 Myself The Meaning Of Lady Saffren Waldon'S Pursuit Of Us, And Of Her 
 Friendship With The Germans, And Her Probable Connection With Georges 
 Coutlass And His Riff-Raff.  I Had Not Gone Far Either On My Stroll Or 
 With The Problem--Perhaps Two Hundred yards Down A Grassy Track That 
 They Had Told Me Led toward A Settlement--When Something, Not A Sound, 
 Not A Smell, And Certainly Not Sight, For I Was Staring at The Ground, 
 Caused me To Look Up.  My Foot Was Raised for A Forward Step, But What 
 I Saw Then Made Me Set It Down Again. 
   
   
 To My Right Front, Less Than Ten Yards Away, Was A Hillock About Twice 
 My Own Height.  To My Left Front, About Twelve Yards Away Was Another, 
 Slightly Higher;  And The Track Passed between Them.  On The Right-Hand 
 Hillock Stood A Male Lion, Full Maned, His Forelegs Well Apart And The 
 Dark Tuft On The End Of His Tail Appearing Every Instant To One Side Or 
 The Other As Be Switched it Cat-Fashion.  He Was Staring Down At Me 
 With A Sort Of Scandalized interest;  And There Was Nothing Whatever 
 For Me To Do But Stare At Him.  I Had No Weapon.  One Spring and A Jump 
 And I Was His Meat.  To Run Was Cowardice As Well As Foolishness, The 
 One Because The Other.  And Without Pretending To Be Able To Read A 
 Lion'S Thoughts I Dare Risk The Assertion That He Was Puzzled what To 
 Do With Me.  I Could Very Plainly See His Claws Coming In and Out Of 
 Their Sheaths, And What With That, And The Switching Tail, And The 
 Sense Of Impotence I Could Not Take My Eyes Off Him.  So I Did Not Look 
 At The Other Hillock At First. 
   
   
 But A Sound Like That A Cat Makes Calling To Her Kittens, Only Greatly 
 Magnified, Made Me Glance To The Left In a Hurry.  I Think That Up To 
 That Moment I Had Not Had Time To Be Afraid, But Now The Goose-Flesh 
 Broke Out All Over Me, And The Sensation Up And Down My Spine Was Of 
 Melting Helplessness. 
   
   
 On The Left-Hand Hillock A Lioness Stood Looking Down With Much 
 Intenser And More Curious Interest.  She Looked from Me To Her Mate, 
 And From Her Mate To Me Again With Indecision That Was No More 
 Reassuring Than Her Low Questioning Growl. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 133 
 I Do Not Know Why They Did Not Spring On Me.  Surely No Two Lions Ever 
 Contemplated easier Quarry.  No Victim In the Arena Ever Watched the 
 Weapons Of Death More Helplessly.  I Suppose My Hour Had Not Come. 
 Perhaps The Lions, Well Used to White Men Who Attacked on Sight With 
 Long-Range Weapons, Doubted the Wisdom Of Experiments On Something New. 
   
   
 The Lioness Growled again.  Her Mate Purred to Her With An Uprising 
 Reassuring Note That Satisfied her And Sent My Heart Into My Boots. 
 Then He Turned, Sprang Down Behind The Hillock, And She Followed.  The 
 Next I Saw Of Them They Were Running away Like Dogs,  Jumping Low 
 Bushes And Heading For Jungle On The Near Horizon Faster Than I Had 
 Imagined lions Could Travel. 
   
   
 That Ended my Desire For Further Exercise And Solitude.  I Made For The 
 Hotel As Fast As Fear Of Seeming afraid Would Let Me, And Spent Fifteen 
 Aggravating Minutes On The Veranda Trying To Persuade Fred oakes That I 
 Had Truly Seen Lions. 
   
   
 "Hyenas!" He Said With The Air Of An Old Hunter, To Which He Was Quite 
 Entitled, But That Soothed me All The Less For That. 
   
   
 "More Likely Jackals," Said Will;  And He Was Just As Much As Fred 
 Entitled to An Opinion. 
   
   
 While I Was Asserting The Facts With Increasing anger, And They Were 
 Amusing Themselves With A Hundred-And-One Ridiculous Reasons For 
 Disbelieving Me, Lady Saffren Waldon Came.  She Had, As Usual, 
 Attracted to Herself Able Assistance;  A Settler'S Ox-Cart Brought Her 
 Belongings, And She And Her Maid Rode In hammocks Borne By Porters 
 Impressed from Heaven Knew Where.  It Was Not Far From The Station, But 
 She Was The Type Of Human That Can Not Be Satisfied with Meek 
 Beginnings.  That Type Is Not By Any Means Always Female, But The 
 Women, Are The Most Determined on Their Course, And Come The Biggest 
 Croppers On Occasion. 
   
   
 She Was Determined now, Mistress Of The Situation And Of Her Plans. 
 She Left To Her Maid The Business Of Quarreling about Accommodations; 
 (There Was Little Left To Choose From, And All Was Bare And Bad); 
 Dismissed the Obsequious Settler And His Porters With Perfunctory 
 Thanks That Left Him No Excuse For Lingering, And Came Along The 
 Veranda Straight Toward Us With The Smile Of Old Acquaintance, And Such 
 An Air Of Being Perfectly At Ease That Surprise Was Disarmed, And The 
 Rudeness We All Three Intended died stillborn. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 134 
 "What Do You Think Of The Country?" She Asked.  "Men Like It As A Rule. 
  Women Detest It, And Who Can Blame Them?  No, Comfort--No Manners--No 
 Companionship--No Meals Fit To Eat--No Amusement!  Have You Killed 
 Anything Or Anybody Yet?  That Always Amuses A Man!" 
   
   
 We Rose To Make Room For Her And I Brought Her A Chair.  There Was 
 Nothing Else One Could Do.  There Is Almost No Twilight In that Part Of 
 East Africa;  Until Dark There Is Scarcely A Hint That The Day Is 
 Waning.  She Sat With Us For Twenty Or Thirty Minutes Making Small 
 Talk, Her Maid Watching Us From A Window Above, Until The Sun Went Down 
 With Almost The Suddenness Of Gas Turned off, And In a Moment We Could 
 Scarcely See One Another'S Faces. 
   
   
 Then Came The Proprietor To The Door, With His Best Ex-Missionary Air 
 Of Knowledge Of All Earth'S Ways, Their Reason And Their Trend. 
   
   
 "All In!" He Called.  "All Inside At Once!  No Guest Is Allowed after 
 Dark On The Veranda!  All Inside!  Supper Presently!" 
   
   
 "Pah!" Remarked lady Saffren Waldon, Rising.  "What Is It About Some 
 Men That Makes One'S Blood Boil?  I Suppose We Must Go In." 
   
   
 She Came Nearer Until She Stood Between The Three Of Us, So Close That 
 I Could See Her Diamond-Hard Eyes And Hear The Suppressed breathing 
 That I Suspected betrayed excitement. 
   
   
 "I Must Speak With You Three Men!  Listen!  I Know This Place.  The 
 Rooms Are Unspeakable--Not A Bedroom That Isn'T A Megaphone, Magnifying 
 Every Whisper!  There Is Only One Suitable Place--The Main Dining-Room. 
  The Proprietor Leaves The Oil-Lamp Burning In there All Night.  People 
 Go To Bed early;  They Prefer To Drink In their Bedrooms Because It 
 Costs Less Than Treating a Crowd!  I Shall Provide A Light Supper, And 
 My Maid Shall Lay The Table After Everybody Else Is Gone Up-Stairs. 
 Then Come Down And Talk With Me.  Its Important!  Be Sure And Come!" 
   
   
 She Did Not Wait For An Answer But Led the Way Into The Hotel.  There 
 Was No Hall.  The Door Led straight Into The Dining-Room, And The Noisy 
 Crowd Within, Dragging Chairs And Choosing Places At The Two Long 
 Tables, Made Further Word With Her Impossible, Even If She Had Not 
 Hurried up-Stairs To Her Room.  "What Do You Make Of It--Of Her?  Isn'T 
 She The Limit?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 135 
 The Words Were Scarcely Out Of Will'S Mouth When A Roar That Made The 
 Dishes Rattle Broke And Echoed and Rumbled in the Street Outside.  The 
 Instant It Died down Another Followed it--Then Three Or Four--Then A 
 Dozen All At Once.  There Came The Pattering Of Heavy Feet, Like The 
 Sound Of Cattle Coming Homeward.  Yet No Cattle--No Buffaloes Ever 
 Roared that Way. 
   
   
 "Now You Know Why I Ordered you All Inside," Grinned the Ex-Missionary 
 Owner Of The Place.  I Divined on The Instant That This Was His Habit, 
 To Stand By The Door Before Supper And Say Just Those Words To The Last 
 Arrivals.  I Had A Vision Of Him Standing By His Mission Door 
 Aforetime, Repeating One Jest, Or More Likely One Stale Euphuism Night 
 After Night. 
   
   
 "Lions?" I Asked, Hating To Take The Bait, Yet Curious Beyond Power To 
 Resist. 
   
   
 "Certainly They'Re Lions!  Did You Think You Were Dreaming?  Are You 
 Glad You Came In when I Called you?  Would You Rather Go Out Again Now? 
  Make A Noise Like A Herd Of Cattle, Don'T They!  That'S Because 
 They'Re Bold.  They Don'T Care Who Hears Them!  The Day Is Ours.  It 
 Used to Be Theirs, But The White Man Has Come And Broken Up Their 
 Empire.  The Night Is Still Theirs.  They'Re Reveling In it!  They'Re 
 Boasting Of It!  Every Single Night They Come Swaggering Through Like 
 This Just After Sunset.  They'Ll Come Again Just Before Dawn, Roaring 
 The Same Way.  You'Ll Hear Them.  They'Ll Wake You All Right.  No 
 Trouble In this Hotel About Getting Guests Down-Stairs For Early 
 Breakfast!" 
   
   
 "I'Ll Get My Rifle And Settle The Hash Of One Or Two Of Them Before I 
 Eat Supper!" Announced will, Turning away To Make Good His Words.  But 
 The Proprietor Seized him By The Arm. 
   
   
 "Don'T Be Foolish!  It Has Been Tried too Often!  I Never Allowed such 
 Foolishness At My Place.  A Party Up-Street Fired from The Windows. 
 Couldn'T See Very Well In the Dark, But Wounded two Or Three Lions. 
 What Happened, Eh?  Why The Whole Pack Of Lions Laid Siege To The 
 House!  They Broke Into The Stable And Killed three Horses, A Donkey, 
 And All The Cows And Sheep.  There Weren'T Any Shutters On The House 
 Windows--Nothing But Glass.  It Wasn'T Long Before A Young Lion Broke A 
 Window, And In no Time There Were Three Full-Grown Ones Into The House 
 After Him.  They Injured one Man So Severely That He Died next Day. 
 They Only Shot Two Of The Lions That Got Inside.  The Other Two Got 
 Safely Away, And Since That Time People Here Have Known Enough Not To 
 Interfere With Them Except By Daylight!  They'Ll Do No Harm To Speak Of 
 Unless You Fire And Enrage Them.  They'Ll Kill The Stray Dogs, Or Any 
 Other Animal They Find Loose;  And Heaven Help The Man They Meet!  But 
 The Place To Be After Six P.M. In nairobi Is Indoors.  And It'S The 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 136 
 Place To Stay Until After Sunrise!  Hear Them Roar!  Aren'T They 
 Magnificent?  Listen!" 
   
   
 The Noise That Twenty Or Thirty Lions Can Make, Deliberately Bent On 
 Making It And Roaring all At Once, Is Unbelievable.  They Throw Their 
 Heads Up And Glory In strength Of Lungs Until Thunders Take Second 
 Place And The Listener Knows Why Not The Bravest, Not The Most 
 Dangerous Of Beasts Has Man Aged to Impose The Fable Of His Grandeur On 
 Men'S Imagination. 
   
   
 We Were Summoned to The Table By The Din Of Georges Coutlass Rising To 
 New Heights Of Gallantry. 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!" He Shouted, Thumping With A Scarred fist.  With A 
 Poultice On His Eye He Looked like A Swashbuckler Home From The Wars; 
 And As He Had Not Troubled to Shave Himself, The Effect Was Heightened. 
  "What Sort Of Company Sits When A Titled lady Enters!"  He Seized a 
 Big Spoon And Rapped on The Board With It.  "Blood Of An Onion!  Rise, 
 Every One!" 
   
   
 Everybody Rose, Although There Were Men In the Room In no Mind To Be 
 Told Their Duty By A Greek.  Lady Saffren Waldon Walked to A Place Near 
 The Head Of The Table With A Chilling Bow.  As Usual When Night And The 
 Yellow Lamplight Modified merciless Outlines, She Looked lovely Enough. 
  But She Lacked the Royal Gift Of Seeming at Home With The Vulgar Herd. 
  She Could Make Men Notice Her--Serve Her, Up To A Certain Point--And 
 Feel That She Was The Center Of Interest Wherever She Might Choose To 
 Be;  But Because She Was Everlastingly On Guard, She Lacked the Power 
 To Put Mixed company At Ease. 
   
   
 Only The Ex-Missionary At The Head Of The Table Seemed to Consider 
 Himself Socially Qualified to Entertain Her.  She Was At No Pains To 
 Conceal Contempt For Him. 
   
   
 "You Honor My Poor Hotel!" He Assured her. 
   
   
 "It Is Certainly A Very Poor Hotel," She Answered. 
   
   
 "Do You Expect To Remain Long, May I Ask?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 137 
 "What Right Have You To Ask Me Questions?  Tell That Native To Go Away 
 From Behind My Chair.  My Own Maid Will Wait On Me!" 
   
   
 Whether Purposely Or Not, She Cast Such A Chill Upon The Company That 
 Even Georges Coutlass Subsided within Himself, And, Though He Ate Like 
 A Ravening animal, Did Not Talk.  Almost The Only Conversation Was 
 Between The Owner And The Native Servants, Who Waited at Table 
 Abominably And Were Noisily Reprimanded, And Argued back. Each 
 Reprimand Increased their Inefficiency And Insolence.  Natives Detest A 
 Fussy, Noisy White Man. 
   
   
 Bad Food, Indifferent Cooking, And No Conversation Worthy Of The Name 
 Produced gloom That Drove Every One From Table As Soon As Possible. 
 Even The Proprietor, With Unsatiable Curiosity Exuding From Him, But No 
 Spirit For Forcing Issues, Departed to A Sanctum Of His Own Up 
 Somewhere Under The Roof.  The Boys Cleared the Tables.  The Smell Of 
 Food Spread Itself And Settled slowly.  A Half-Breed butler Served 
 Countless Orders Of Drinks On Trays, And Sent Them Upstairs To 
 Bedrooms.  Presently We Three Sat Alone In the Long Bare Room. 
   
   
 "Shall We Wait For Her?" I Asked.  "Haven'T We Had Enough Of Her?" 
   
   
 Fred laughed.  "She Can Scarcely Cut The Throats Of All Three Of Us!" 
   
   
 "I Said We'D Never Hear The Last Of It!" Said Will, With A Scowl At Me. 
   
   
 "Shall We Wait For Her?" I Repeated. 
   
   
 My Own Vote Would Have Been In favor Of Going Upstairs And Leaving Her 
 To Her Own Devices.  I Could See That Fred was Afire With Curiosity, 
 But Guessed that Will Would Agree With Me.  However, The Point Was 
 Settled for Us By The Arrival Of Her Maid, Who Smiled with Unusual 
 Condescension And Produced from A Basket An Assortment Of Drinks, Nuts, 
 Cigarettes And Sandwiches.  She Spread Them On The Table And Went Away 
 Again. 
   
   
 We Sat And Smoked for An Hour After That, Imagining Every Moment That 
 Lady Saffren Waldon Would Be Coming.  Whenever We Yawned in chorus And 
 Rose To Go Upstairs, A Footstep Seemed to Herald Her Arrival.  To Have 
 Passed her On The Stairs Would Have Been Too Awkward To Be Amusing. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 138 
 At Last We Really Made Up Our Minds To Go To Bed;  And Then She Really 
 Came, Appearing at The Bend In the Stairs Just As I Set My Foot On The 
 Lower Step, So We Trooped back To Our Chairs By The Window.  She Was 
 Dressed in a Lacy Silk Negligee, And Took Pains This Time To Appear 
 Gracious. 
   
   
 "I Waited until I Felt Sure We Should Not Be Disturbed," She Said, 
 Smiling. "Won'T You Come And Sit Down?" 
   
   
 We Brought Our Chairs To The Table, She Sitting at One End And We 
 Together At One Side, Fred nearest Her And I Farthest Away.  She Made A 
 Sign Toward The Wine And Sandwiches, And Offered us Cigarettes Of A 
 Sort I Had Never Seen.  Without Feeling Exactly Like Flies In a 
 Spider'S Web, We Were Nervous As Schoolboys. 
   
   
 "What Do You Want With Us?" Asked will At Last. 
   
   
 She Laughed and Took A Cigarette. 
   
   
 "Don'T Let Us Talk Too Loud.  You Three Men Are After The Tippoo Tib 
 Ivory.  So Is The Sultan Of Zanzibar.  So Is The German Government.  So 
 Am I" 
   
   
 She Gave The Statement Time To Do Its Own Work, And Smoked a While In 
 Silence.  The Strength Of Her Position, And Our Weakness, Lay In there 
 Being Three Of Us.  Any One Of Us Might Let Drop An Ill-Considered word 
 That Would Commit The Others.  I Think We All Felt That, For We Sat And 
 Said Nothing. 
   
   
 "You Answer Her, Fred," I Said At Last, And Will Nodded agreement. 
   
   
 So Fred got Up And Sat On The Other Side Of The Table, Where We Could 
 See His Face And He Ours. 
   
   
 "You Haven'T Answered mr. Yerkee Question," He Said. "What Do You Want 
 With Us, Lady Saffren Waldon?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 139 
 "I Want An Understanding With You.  I Will Be Plain To Begin With.  We 
 All Know You Know Where The Ivory Is.  Lord Montdidier Is Not The Man 
 To Connect Himself With Any Wild Goose Chase.  We Don'T Pretend To Know 
 How You Came By The Secret Or Why He Has Gone To London, But We Are 
 Sure You Know It, Perfectly Sure, And For Five Or Six Reasons.  We Are 
 Willing To Buy The Secret From You At Your Own Price." 
   
   
 "Who Are 'We'?" Asked fred pointedly, Helping Himself To Nuts. 
   
   
 "The German Government, The Sultan Of Zanzibar, And Myself." 
   
   
 Fred smiled.  "Between You You Probably Could Pay," He Remarked. 
   
   
 "I Will Tell You A Few Hard Facts," She Said, "Now That The Ice Is 
 Broken.  You Will Never Be Allowed to Make Full Use Of Your Own Secret. 
  You Have Arrived at An Inopportune Moment, For You And For Us. Our 
 Plans Have Been On Foot A Long Time.  Our Search Has Been Systematic, 
 And It Is A Mathematical Certainty We Shall Find What We Look For In 
 Time.  We Do Not Propose To Let New Arrivals On The Scene Spoil All Our 
 Plans And Disappoint Us Just Because They Happen To Have Information. 
 If You Go Ahead You Will Be Watched like Mice Whom Cats Are After.  If 
 You Find The Ivory, You Will Be Killed before You Can Make The 
 Discovery Known!" 
   
   
 "We Seem Up Against It, Don'T We!" Smiled fred. 
   
   
 "You Are!  But You Can Save Us Trouble, If You Will.  Name Your Price. 
 Tell Me Your Secret.  Go Your Way.  If Your Story Proves True You Shall 
 Be Paid By Draft On London." 
   
   
 "Are You Overlooking The Idea," Asked fred, "That We Might Tell The 
 Secret To The British Government, And Be Contented with Our Ten Per 
 Cent. Commission?" 
   
   
 "I Am Not.  You Are Expressly Warned against Any Such Foolishness.  In 
 The First Place, You Will Be Killed, At Once If You Dare.  In the 
 Second Place, How Do You Know The British Government Would Pay You Ten 
 Per Cent.?" 
   
   
 "I'Ve Had Dealings With The English!" Laughed fred. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 140 
 "Bah!  Do You Think This Is Whitehall?  Do You Think The Officials Here 
 Are Proof Against Temptation?  When I Tell You That In whitehall Itself 
 I Can Bribe Two Officials Out Of Three, Perhaps You'Ll Understand Me 
 When I Say That All These People Have Their Price!  And The Price Is 
 Low!  Tell Them Where The Ivory Is--Lead Them To It--And They'Ll Swear 
 They Found It Themselves, So As To Keep The Commission Themselves!  And 
 As For You--You Three"--She Sneered with The Most Sardonic, Thin-Lipped 
 Smile I Ever Saw--"There Are Lions Out Here, And Buffalo, Snakes, 
 Fevers, Native Uprisings--More Ways Of Being Rid Of You Than By Choking 
 You To Death With Butter!" 
   
   
 "Do You Suppose" Asked fred, "That Lord Montdidier Has No Influence In 
 London, That He--" 
   
   
 "I Know He Had Influence.  I Should Have Told You First, Perhaps.  Lord 
 Montdidier Was Murdered on Board Ship.  A Telegram Reached mombasa 
 Yesterday At Ten A.M. From Up-Coast Saying That The Body Of An Unknown, 
 Englishman Had Been Picked up At Sea By An Arab Dhow, With The Face Too 
 Badly Eaten By Fish To Be Recognizable.  You May Take It From Me, That 
 Is Lord Montdidier'S Corpse." 
   
   
 The Calm Announcement Was Intended to Surprise Us, And It Did, But The 
 Result Surprised her. 
   
   
 "You She-Devil!" Said Will.  "If You And Your Gang Have Murdered that 
 Fine Fellow I'Ll Turn The Tables On You!  You Go Up-Stairs, And Pray He 
 Isn'T Dead!  Pray That Corpse May Prove To Be Some One'S Else!  If He'S 
 Dead I'Ll Guarantee You It'S The Worst Day'S Work You Ever Had A Hand 
 In!  Go Up-Stairs!" 
   
   
 He Flung Away The Cigarette She Had Given Him And Knocked his Chair 
 Away. 
   
   
 "Sit Down, You Young Fool!" She Said.  "Don'T Make All That Noise!" 
   
   
 But Will Had None Of The Respect For Titles Acquired by Marriage That 
 Made Most Men An Easy Mark For Her. 
   
   
 "Leave The Room!" He Ordered.  "Go Away From Us!  Just You Hope That'S 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 141 
 A Lie About Monty, That'S All!" 
   
   
 "Sit Down!" She Repeated.  "I Admit I Am A Little Previous.  The Story 
 Is Unconfirmed yet.  Sit Down And Be Sensible!  Something Of The Sort 
 Will Happen To All Of You Unless You Three Men Get Religion!" 
   
   
 But Will Began To Pace The Floor Noisily, Stopping To Glare At Her Each 
 Time He Turned. 
   
   
 "Is There Any Sense In protracting The Scene?" Asked fred. 
   
   
 "No," She Admitted.  "I See You Are Too Hot-Headed to Be Reasoned with. 
  But It Makes Little Difference! 
 Fever--Animals--Climate--Sun--Flood--Accident--Natives--There Are 
 Excuses In plenty--Explanations By The Dozen!  I Will Say Good Night, 
 Then--And Good-By!" 
   
   
 "Yes, Good-By!" Growled will, Facing Her With His Back To The Stairs. 
 "You Take Us For Men With A Price, Do You?" 
   
   
 "All Men Have A Price," She Smiled bitterly.  "Only It Is No Use 
 Offering Flowers To Pigs!  We Must Treat Pigs Another Way--Pigs, And 
 Young Fools!  And Fools Old Enough To Know Better!" She Added with A 
 Nod Toward Fred, Who Bowed to Her In mock Abasement--Too Politely, I 
 Thought. 
   
   
 Will Got Out Of Her Way And She Went Up-Stairs With The Manner Of An 
 Empress Taking Leave Of Subjects.  Fred swept Her Food And Wine From 
 The Table And Stowed it In a Corner, And We Sat Down At The Table Again. 
   
   
 "The Whole Thing'S Getting Ridiculous." He Said. 
   
   
 "Why Don'T We Hunt Up Some Official In the Morning," I Proposed, "And 
 Simply Expose Her?" 
   
   
 "No Use," Said Will.  "She Never Followed us Up Here And Tried that 
 Game Without Being Sure Of Her Pull.  Besides--What Kind Of A Tale 
 Could We Tell Without Letting On We'Re After The Ivory?  I Vote We See 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 142 
 The Game Through To A Finish." 
   
   
 "Good!" Said Fred. "I Agree!" 
   
   
 "The Only Clue We'Ve Got," Said I, "Is Courtney'S Advice About Mount 
 Elgon." 
   
   
 "And What Coutlass Said In zanzibar About German East," Added will. 
   
   
 "Tell You What," Said Fred, Rapping The Table Excitedly.  "Instead Of 
 Falling Foul Of This Government By Slipping Over The Dead-Line, Why Not 
 Run Down To German East--Pretend To Search For The Stuff Down 
 There--And Go From German East Direct To Mount Elgon, Giving 'Em All 
 The Slip.  Who'S Got The Map?" 
   
   
 "It'S Up-Stairs," I Said.  "I'Ll Fetch It." 
   
   
 There Was Nothing Like Silence In the Rooms Above.  Men Were Smoking 
 And Drinking In one Another'S Rooms.  Some Doors Were Open To Make 
 Conversation Easier Across The Landing, And Nobody Was Asleep.  But I 
 Was Surprised to See Georges Coutlass Leaning against The Door-Post Of 
 The Room 
 He Shared with The Other Greek And The Goanese, Obviously On Guard, But 
 Against Whom And On Whose Behalf It Was Difficult To Guess. 
   
   
 "Are You Off To Bed?" He Asked, Piercing Me With His Unbandaged eye. 
 "Why Don'T The Others Go, Too?" 
   
   
 It Dawned on Me What He Was After. 
   
   
 "Take The Wine If You Want It," I Said.  "None Of Us Will Prevent You." 
   
   
 He Went Down-Stairs In his Stocking Feet, Leaving His Own Door Wide.  I 
 Glanced in.  The Other Greek And The Goanese Were Asleep.  Hassan Lay 
 On The Floor On A Mat Between Their Cots.  He Looked up At Me.  I Did 
 Not Dare Speak, But I Smiled at Him As Friendly As I Knew How And Made 
 A Gesture I Hoped he Would Interpret As An Invitation To Come And 
 Attach Himself To Our Party.  Then I Hurried on, For Coutlass Was 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 5 (The Slave Gangs) Pg 143 
 Coming Back With A Bottle Of Wine In each Hand. 
   
   
 I Was Five Minutes In our Bedroom.  In a Minute I Knew What Had 
 Happened.  We Had Left The Door Locked, But The Lock Was A Common One; 
 Probably The Keys Of Other Doors Fitted it, And There Was Not One Thing 
 In The Room Placed exactly Where We Had Left It.  Everything Was More 
 Or Less In place, But Nothing Quite. 
   
   
 I Returned empty-Handed down-Stairs, Locking The Bedroom Door Behind Me. 
   
   
 "Listen, You Chaps!" I Said.  "While We Waited for That Woman She And 
 Her Maid Went Through Our Things Again!" 
   
   
 "How D'You Know It Was She?" Asked fred. 
   
   
 "No Mistaking The Scent She Uses.  Where'S Our Money?" 
   
   
 "Here In my Pocket." 
   
   
 "Good.  The Map'S Gone, Though!" 
   
   
 Will Showed big Teeth In the First Really Happy Smile For Several Days. 
   
   
 "Good Enough!" He Said.  "Let'S Go To Bed now.  I'Ll Bet You My Share 
 Of The Ivory They'Re Poring Over The Map With A Magnifying-Glass! 
 D'You Remember The Various Places We Underscored?  They'Ll Think It'S A 
 Cryptogram And Fret Ever It All Night!  Come On--Come To Bed!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 144 
 Noah Was Our Godfather, And He Pitched and Caulked a Ship 
 'With Stable-Room For Two Of Each And Fodder For The Trip, 
 Lest When The Flood Made Sea Of Earth The Animals Should Die; 
 And Two By Two He Stalled us Till The Wrath Of God Was By. 
 But Who In the Name Of The Pentateuch Can The Paleface People   Be 
 Who Ha' Done On The Plains Of Africa More Than He Did At Sea? 
   
   
 A Million Hoofs Once Drummed the Dust (Kongoni Led the Way!) 
 >From River-Pool To Desert-Lick We Thundered in array 
 Until The Dark-Skin People Came With Tube And Smoke And Shot, 
 Hunting and Driving and Killing, And Leaving The Meat To Rot. 
 And We Didn'T Know Who The Hunters Were, But We Saw The Herds   Grow 
 Thin 
 That Used to Drum The Dust-Clouds Up With Thousand-Footed din. 
   
   
 We Were Few When The Paleface People Came--Scattered and Few    And 
 Afraid. 
 Fewer Were They, But They Brought The Law, And The Dark-Skin    Men 
 Obeyed. 
 The Paleface People Drew A Line That None By Dark Or Day 
 Might Cross With Fell Intent To Hunt--Capture Or Drive Or Slay. 
 But Who Ran The Paleface People Be With Red-Meat Appetites 
 Who Ruled anew What Noah Knew--That Animals Have Rights? 
   
   
 And Now In the Athi Game Reserve--In A Million-Acre Park 
 A Million Creatures Graze Who Went By Twos Into The Ark. 
 We Sleep O' Nights Without Alarm (Kongoni, Prick Your Ear!) 
 And Barring The Leopard And Lion To Watch, And Ticks, We'Ve     Nought 
 To Fear, 
 Zebra, Giraffe And Waterbuck, Rhino And Ostrich Too-- 
 But Who Can The Paleface People Be Who Know What Noah Knew? 
   
   
 The Lions Awoke Us A Little Before Dawn As The Proprietor Had Promised. 
 They Seemed to Have Had Bad Hunting, For Their Boastfulness Was Gone. 
 They Came In twos And Threes, Snarling, Only Roaring Intermittently--In 
 A Hurry Because The Hated daylight Would Presently Reverse Conditions 
 And Put Them At Disadvantage. 
   
   
 I Grew Restless And Got Up.  The Air Being Chilly, I Put My Clothes On 
 And Sat For A While By The Window.  So It Happened i Caught Sight Of 
 Hassan, Very Much Afraid Of Lions, But Obviously More Afraid Of Being 
 Seen From The Hotel Windows.  He Was Sneaking along As Close To The 
 House As He Could Squeeze, His Head Just Visible Above The Veranda Rail. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 145 
 For No Better Reason Than That I Was Curious And Unoccupied, I Slipped 
 Out Of The House And Followed him. 
   
   
 Once Clear Of The Hotel He Seemed to Imagine Himself Safe, For Without 
 Another Glance Backward He Ran Up-Street In the Direction Of The 
 Bazaar.  I Followed him Down The Bazaar--A Short Street Of Corrugated 
 Iron Buildings--And Out The Other End.  Being Fat, He Could Not Run 
 Fast, Although His Wind Held Out Surprisingly.  If He Saw Me At All He 
 Must Have Mistaken Me For A Settler Or One Of The Nairobi Officials, 
 For He Seemed perfectly Sure Of Himself And Took No Pains Whatever Now 
 To Throw Pursuers Off The Track. 
   
   
 It Soon Became Evident That He Was Making For An Imposing Group Of 
 Tents On The Outskirts Of The Town.  As He Drew Nearer He Approached 
 More Slowly. 
   
   
 It Now Became My Turn To Take Precautions.  There Was No Chance Of 
 Concealment Where I Was--Nothing But Open Level Ground Between Me And 
 The Tents.  But Now That I Knew Hassan'S Destination, I Could Afford To 
 Let Him Out Of Sight For A Minute;  So I Turned my Back On Him, Walked 
 To Where A Sort Of Fold In the Ground Enabled me To Get Down Unseen 
 Into A Shallow Nullah, And Went Along That At Right Angles To Hassan'S 
 Course Until I Reached the Edge Of Some Open Jungle, About Half A Mile 
 From The Tents.  I Noticed that It Came To An End At A Spot About Three 
 Hundred yards To The Rear Of The Tents, So I Worked my Way Along Its 
 Outer Edge, And So Approached the Encampment From Behind. 
   
   
 I Had Brought A Rifle With Me, Not That I Expected to Shoot Anything, 
 But Because The Lion Incident Of The Previous Afternoon Had Taught Me 
 Caution.  It Had Not Entered my Head That In that Country A Strange 
 White Man Without A Rifle Might Have Been Regarded as A Member Of The 
 Mean White Class;  Nor That Anybody Would Question My Right To Carry A 
 Rifle, For That Matter. 
   
   
 The Camp Was Awake Now.  There Were Ten Tents, All Facing One Way.  Two 
 Of Them Contained stores.  The Central Round Tent With An Awning In 
 Front Was Obviously A White Man'S.  One Tent Housed a Mule, And The 
 Rest Were For Native Servants And Porters.  The Camp Was Tidy And 
 Clean--Obviously Belonging To Some One Of Importance.  Fires Were 
 Alight.  Breakfast Was Being Cooked, And Smelled most Uncommonly 
 Appetizing In that Chill Morning air.  Boys Were Already Cleaning 
 Boots, And A Saddle, And Other Things.  There Was An Air Of Discipline 
 And Trained activity, And From The Central Tent Came The Sound Of 
 Voices. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 146 
 I Don'T Know Why, But I Certainly Did Not Expect To Hear English.  So 
 The Sound Of English Spoken With A Foreign Accent Brought Me To A 
 Standstill.  I Listened to A Few Words, And Made No Further Bones About 
 Eavesdropping.  Circumstances Favored me.  The Boys Had Seen I Was 
 Carrying a Rifle And Was Therefore A White Man Of Importance, So They 
 Did Not Question My Right To Approach.  The Tent With The Mule In it 
 And The Two Store Tents Were On The Right, Pitched in a Triangle.  I 
 Passed between Them Up To The Very Pegs Of The Central Tent From Which 
 The Voices Came, And Discovered i Was Invisible, Unless Some One Should 
 Happen To Come Around A Corner.  I Decided to Take My Chance Of That. 
   
   
 The First Thing That Puzzled me Was Why A German (For It Was A 
 Perfectly Unmistakable German Accent) Should Need to Talk English To A 
 Native Who Was Certainly Familiar With Both Arabic And Kiswahili.  When 
 I Heard The German Addressed as Bwana Schillingschen I Wondered still 
 More, For From All Accounts That Individual Could Speak More Native 
 Tongues Than Most People Knew Existed.  It Did Not Occur To Me At The 
 Time That If He Wished not To Be Understood By His Own Crowd Of Boys He 
 Must Either Speak German Or English, And That Hassan Would Almost 
 Certainly Know No German. 
   
   
 "A Good Thing You Came To Me!" I Heard.  The Accent Was Clumsy For A 
 Man So Well Versed in tongues.  "Yes, I Will Give You Money At The 
 Right Time.  Tell Me No Lies Now!  There Will Be Letters Coming From 
 People You Never Saw, And I Shall Know Whether Or Not You Lie To Me! 
 You Say There Are Three Of The Fools?" 
   
   
 "Yes, Bwana.  There Were Four, But One Going Home--Big Lord Gentleman, 
 Him Having Black M'Stache, Gone Home." 
   
   
 There Was No Mistaking Hassan'S Voice.  No Doubt He Could Speak His 
 Mother Tongue Softly Enough, But In common With A Host Of Other People 
 He Seemed to Imagine That To Make Himself Understood In english He Must 
 Shout. 
   
   
 "Why Did He Go Home?" 
   
    
 "I Don'T Know, Bwana." 
   
   
 "Did They Quarrel?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 147 
 "Sijui."*  [* Sijui, I Don'T Know:  The Most Aggravating Word In 
 Africa, Except Perhaps Bado Kidogo, Which Means "Presently," "Bye And 
 Bye," "In A Little While." 
   
   
 "Don'T You Dare Say 'Sijui' To Me!" 
   
   
 "Maybe They Quarrel, Maybe Not.  They All Quarreling With Lady 
 Saffunwardo--Staying In same Hotel, Tippoo Tib One Time His House--She 
 Wanting Maybe Go With Him To London.  He Saying No.  Others Saying No. 
 All Very Angry Each With Other An' Throwing Bwana Masikini, Greek Man, 
 Down Hotel Stairs." 
   
   
 "What Had He To Do With It?" 
   
   
 "Two Greek Man An' One Goa All After Ivory, Too.  She--Lady Saffunwardo 
 Afterwards Promising Pay Them Three If They Come Along An' Do What She 
 Tell 'Em. They Agreeing Quick!  Byumby Tippoo Tib Hearing Bazaar Talk 
 An' Sending Me Along Too.  She Refuse To Take Me, All Because German 
 Consul Man Knowing Me Formerly And Not Making Good Report, But Greek 
 Bwana He Not Caring and Say To Me To Come Along.  Greek People Very 
 Bad!  No Food--No Money--Nothing But Swear An' Kick An' Call Bad 
 Names--An' Drunk Nearly All The Time!" 
   
   
 "What Makes You Think These Three Men Know Where The Ivory Is?" Said 
 The German Voice.  It Was The Voice Of A Man Very Used to Questioning 
 Natives--Self-Assertive But Calm--Going Straight Each Time To The Point. 
   
   
 "They Having Map. Map Having Marks On It." 
   
   
 "How Do You Know?" 
   
   
 "She--Lady Saffunwardo Go In their Bedroom, Stealing It Last Night." 
   
   
 "Did You See Her Take It?" 
   
   
 "Yes, Bwana." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 148 
 "Did You See The Marks On It?" 
   
   
 "No, Bwana." 
   
   
 "Then How Do You Know The Marks Were On It?  Now, Remember, Don'T Lie 
 To Me!" 
   
   
 "Coutlass, Him Greek Man, Standing On Stairs Keeping Watch.  Them Three 
 Men You Call Fools All Sitting In dining-Room Waiting Because They 
 Thinking She Come Presently.  She Send Maid To Their Room.  Maid, Fool 
 Woman, Upset Everything, Finding Nothing.  'No,' She Say, 'No Map--No 
 Money--No Anything In here.'  An' Lady Saffunwardo She Very Angry An' 
 Say, 'Come Out O' There!  Let Me Look!'  And Lady Saffunwardo Going In, 
 But Maid Not Coming Out, An' They Both Search.  Then Lady Saffanwardo 
 Saying all At Once,  'Here It Is.  Didn'T You See This?'  An' The Maid 
 Answering, 'Oh, That!  That Nothing But Just Ordinary Pocket Map!  That 
 Not It!'  But Lady Saffunwardo She Opening The Map, An' Make Little 
 Scream, An' Say, 'Idiot!  This Is It!  Look!  See!  See The Marks!' 
 So, Bwana, I Then Knowing Must Be Marks On Map!" 
   
   
 "Good.  What Did She Do With It?" 
   
   
 "Sujui." 
   
   
 "I Told You Not To Dare Say 'Sijui' To Me!" 
   
   
 "How Should I Know, Bwana,, What She Doing With It?" 
   
   
 "Could You Steal It?" 
   
   
 "No, Bwana!" 
   
   
 "Why Not?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 149 
 "You Not Knowing That Woman!  No Man Daring Steal From Her!  She Very 
 Terrible!" 
   
   
 "If I Offered you A Hundred rupees Could You Steal It?" 
   
   
 "Sujui, Bwana." 
   
   
 "I Told You Not To Use That Word!" 
   
   
 "Bwana, I--" 
   
   
 "Could You Steal It?" 
   
   
 "Maybe." 
   
   
 "That Is No Answer!" 
   
   
 "Say That Again About Hundred rupees!" 
   
   
 "I Will Give You A Hundred rupees If You Bring Me That Map And It 
 Proves To Be What You Say." 
   
   
 "I Go.  I See.  I Try.  Hundred rupees Very Little Money!" 
   
   
 "It'S All You'Ll Get, You Black Rascal!  And You Know What You'Ll Get 
 If You Fail!  You Know Me, Don'T You?  You Understand My Way?  Steal 
 That Map And Bring It Here, And I Shall Give You A Hundred rupees. 
 Fail, And You Shall Have A Hundred lashes, And What Ahmed and Abdullah 
 And Seydi Got In addition!  The Hundred lashes First, And The Ant-Hill 
 Afterward!  You'Re Not Fool Enough To Think You Can Escape Me, I 
 Suppose?" 
   
   
 "No. Bwana." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 150 
 "Then Go And Get The Map!" 
   
   
 "But Afterward, What Then?  She Very Gali* Woman."  [*Gali, Same As 
 Hindustani Kali--Cruel, Hard, Fierce, Terrible.] 
   
   
 "Nonsense!  Steal The Map And Bring It Here To Me.  Then I'Ve Other 
 Work For You.  Are You A Renegade Muhammedan?" 
   
   
 "No, Bwana!  No, No!  Never! I'M Good Moslem." 
   
   
 "Very Well.  Back To Your Old Business With You!  Preach Islam Up And 
 Down The Country.  Go And Tell All The Tribes In british Territory That 
 The Germans Are Coming Soon To Establish An Empire Of Islam In africa! 
 Good Pay And Easy Living!  Does That Suit You?" 
   
   
 "Yes, Bwana.  How Much Pay?" 
   
   
 "I'Ll Tell You When You Bring The Map.  Now Be Going!" 
   
   
 Hassan Went, After A Deal Of Polite Salaaming.  Then Boys Began 
 Bringing The German'S Breakfast, And Unless I Chose To Confess Myself 
 An Eavesdropper It Became My Business To Be In the Tent Ahead Of Them. 
 So I Strode Forward As If Just Arrived and Purposely Tripped over A 
 Tent-Rope, Stumbling Under The Awning With A Laugh And An Apology. 
   
   
 "Who Are You?" Demanded the German Without Rising.  He Had The Splay 
 Shovel Beard Described to Us In zanzibar--Big Dark Man, Sitting In the 
 Doorway Of A Tent All Hung With Guns, Skins And Antlers.  He Was In 
 Night-Shirt And Trousers--Bare Feet--But With A Helmet On The Back Of 
 His Head. 
   
   
 "A Visitor," I Answered, "Staying at The Hotel--Out For A Morning Shot 
 At Something--Had No Luck--Got Nothing--Saw Your Tents In the Distance, 
 And Came Out Of Curiosity To Find Out Who You Are." 
   
   
 "My Name Is Professor Schillingschen," He Answered, Still Without 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 151 
 Getting Up.  There Was No Other Chair Near The Awning, So I Had To 
 Remain Standing.  I Told Him My Name, Hoping That Hassan Had Either Not 
 Done So Already, Or Else That He Might Have So Bungled the 
 Pronunciation As To Make It Unrecognizable.  I Detected no Sign Of 
 Recognition On Schillingschen'S Face. 
   
   
 The Boys Reached the Tent With His Breakfast, And One Of Them Dragged a 
 Chair From Inside The Tent For Me.  I Sat Down On It Without Waiting 
 For The Professor To Invite Me. 
   
   
 "I'M Tired," I Said, Untruthfully, Minded to Refuse An Invitation To 
 Eat, But Interested to See Whether He Would Invite Me Or Not. 
   
   
 "Have You Any Friends At The Hotel?" He Asked, Looking Up At Me Darkly 
 Under The Bushiest Eyebrows I Ever Saw. 
   
   
 "I'Ve Got Friends Wherever I Go," I Answered.  "I Make Friends." 
   
   
 "Are You Going Far?" He Demanded, Holding Out A Foot For His Boy To 
 Pull A Stocking On. 
   
   
 "That Depends," I Said. 
   
   
 "On What?" 
   
   
 "On Whether I Get Employment." 
   
   
 I Said That At Random, Without Pausing To Think What Impression I Might 
 Create.  He Pulled the Night-Shirt Off Over His Head, Throwing The 
 Helmet To The Ground, And Sat Like A Great Hairy Gorilla For The Boy To 
 Hang Day-Clothes On Him.  He Had The Hairiest Breast And Arms I Ever 
 Saw, Hung With Lumpy Muscles That Heightened his Resemblance To An Ape. 
   
   
 "I Might Give You Work," He Said Presently, Beginning To Eat Before The 
 Boy Had Finished dressing Him. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 152 
 "I Want To Travel" I Said.  "If I Could Find A Job That Would Take Me 
 Up And Down The Length And Breadth Of This Land, That Would Suit Me 
 Finely." 
   
   
 "That Is The Kind Of A Man I Want," He Said, Eying Me Keenly.  "I Have 
 A German, But I Need an Englishman.  Do You Speak Native Languages?" 
   
   
 "Scarcely A Word." 
   
   
 To My Surprise He Nodded approval At That Answer. 
   
   
 "I Have Parties Of Natives Traveling all Over The Country Gathering 
 Folk Lore, And Ethnographical Particulars, But They Get Into A Village 
 And Sit Down For Whole Weeks At A Time, Drawing Pay For Doing Nothing. 
 I Need an Englishman To Go With Them And Keep Them Moving." 
   
   
 "All Well And Good," I Said, "But I Understand The Government Is Not In 
 Favor Of White Men Traveling about At Random." 
   
   
 "But I Am Known To The Government," He Answered.  "I Have Been Accorded 
 Facilities Because Of My Professional Standing.  Have You References 
 You Can Give Me?" 
   
   
 "No," I Said. "No References." 
   
   
 I Thought That Would Stump Him, But On The Contrary He Looked rather 
 Pleased. 
   
   
 "That Is Good.  References Are Too Frequently Evidence Of Back-Stairs 
 Influence." 
   
   
 All This While He Kept Eying Me Between Mouthfuls.  Whenever I Seemed 
 To Look Away His Eyes Fairly Burned holes In me.  Whenever Food Got In 
 His Beard (Which Was Frequently) Be Used the Napkin More As A Shield 
 Behind Which To Take Stock Of Me Than As A Means Of Getting Clean 
 Again.  By The Time His Breakfast Was Finished his Beard Was A Beastly 
 Mess, But He Probably Had My Features From Every Angle Fixed indelibly 
 In His Memory.  The Sensation Was That I Had Been Analyzed and Card 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 153 
 Indexed. 
   
   
 "I Pay Good Wages," He Remarked, And Then Stuck His Face, Beard And 
 All, Into The Basin Of Warm Water His Boy Had Brought.  "Where Did You 
 Get That Rifle?" He Demanded, Spluttering, And Combing The Beard Out 
 With His Fingers. 
   
   
 It Was On The Tip Of My Tongue To Say "At Zanzibar," But, As That Might 
 Have Started him On A String Of Questions As To How I Came To That 
 Place And Whom I Knew There, I Temporized. 
   
   
 "Oh, I Bought It From A Man." 
   
   
 "That Is No Answer!" He Retorted. 
   
   
 If I Had Been Possessed of Much Inclination To Play Deep Games And 
 Match Wits With Big Rascals I Suppose I Would Have Answered him Civilly 
 And There And Then Learned more Of His Purpose.  But I Was Not 
 Prepossessed by His Charms Or Respectful Of His Claim To Superiority. 
 The German Type Super-Education Never Did Impress Me As Compatible With 
 Good Breeding Or Good Sense, And It Annoyed me To Have To Lie To Him. 
   
   
 "It'S All The Answer You'Ll Get!" I Said. 
   
   
 "Where Is Your License For It?" He Growled. 
   
   
 The Game Began To Amuse Me. 
   
   
 "None Of Your Business!" I Answered. 
   
   
 "How Long Have You Been In the Country!" 
   
   
 "Since I Came," I Said. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 154 
 "And You Have No License!  You Have Been Out Shooting.  A Lucky Thing 
 You Came To My Camp And Not To Some Other Man'S!  The Game Laws Are 
 Very Strict!" 
   
   
 He Spoke Then To A Boy Who Was Standing Behind Me, Giving Him Very 
 Careful Directions In a Language Of Which I Did Not Know One Word.  The 
 Boy Went Away. 
   
   
 "The Last Man Who Went Shooting Near Nairobi Without A License," He 
 Said, "Tried to Excuse Himself Before The Magistrate By Claiming 
 Ignorance Of The Law.  He Was Fined a Thousand Rupees And Sentenced to 
 Six Months In jail!" 
   
   
 "Very Severe!" I Said. 
   
   
 "They Are Altogether Too Severe," He Answered.  "I Hope You Have Killed 
 Nothing.  It Is Good You Came First To Me.  You Would Better Stand That 
 Rifle Over Here In the Corner Of My Tent.  To Walk Back To The Hotel 
 With It Over Your Shoulder Would Be Dangerous." 
   
   
 "I'Ve Taken Bigger Chances Than That," Said I. 
    
   
 "If You Have Shot Nothing, Then It Is Not So Serious," He Said, 
 Disappearing Behind A Curtain Into The Recesses Of His Tent. 
   
   
 He Stayed in there For About Ten Minutes.  I Had About Made Up My Mind 
 To Walk Away When Four Of His Boys Approached the Tent From Behind, And 
 One Of Them Cried "Hodi!"  The Boy To Whom He Had Given Directions 
 Across My Shoulder Was Not Among Them. 
   
   
 They Threw The Buck Down Near My Feet, And He Came Out From The Gloomy 
 Interior And Stared at It.  He Asked them Questions Rapidly In the 
 Native Tongue, And They Answered, Pointing at Me. 
   
   
 "They Say You Shot It," He Told Me, Stroking His Great Beard 
 Alternately With Either Hand. 
   
   
 "Then They Lie!" I Answered. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 155 
 "Let Me See That Rifle!" He Said, Reaching Out An Enormous Freckled 
 Fist To Take It. 
   
   
 I Saw Through His Game At Last.  It Would Have Been The Easiest Thing 
 In The World To Extract A Cartridge From The Clip In the Magazine And 
 Claim Afterward That I Had Fired it Away.  Evidently He Proposed to Get 
 Me In his Power, Though For Just What Reason He Was So Determined to 
 Make Use Of Me Rather Than Any One Else Was Not So Clear. 
   
   
 "So I Shot The Buck, Did I?" I Asked. 
   
   
 "Those Four Natives Say They Saw You Shoot It." 
   
   
 "Then It'S Mine?" 
   
   
 He Nodded. 
   
   
 "It'S Heavy," I Said, "But I Expect I Can Carry It." 
   
   
 I Took The Buck By The Hind Legs And Swung Myself Under It.  It Weighed 
 More Than A Hundred pounds, But The African Climate Had Not Had Time 
 Enough To Sap My Strength Or Destroy Sheer Pleasure In muscular Effort. 
   
   
 "What'S Mine'S My Own I" I Laughed. "You Gave Me Something To Eat After 
 All!  Good Day, And Good Riddance!" 
   
   
 The Boys Tried to Prevent My Carrying The Buck Away. 
   
   
 "Come Back!" Growled the Professor.  "I Will Take Responsibility For 
 That Buck And Save You From Punishment.  Bring It Back!  Lay It Down!" 
   
   
 But I Continued to Walk Away, So He Ordered his Boys To Take The 
 Carcass From Me.  I Laid It Down And Threatened them With My Butt End. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 156 
 He Brought His Own Rifle Out And Threatened me With That.  I Laughed at 
 Him, Bade Him Shoot If He Dared, Offered him Three Shots For A Penny, 
 And Ended by Shouldering The Buck Again And Walking Off. 
   
   
 Meat Was Cheap In nairobi In those Days, So The Owner Of The Hotel Was 
 Not So Delighted as I Expected.  He Reprimanded me For Being Late For 
 Breakfast, And Told Me I Was Lucky To Get Any.  Fred and Will Had 
 Waited for Me, And While We Ate Alone And I Told Them The Story Of My 
 Morning'S Adventure A Police Officer In khaki Uniform Tied up His Mule 
 Outside And Clattered in. 
   
   
 "Whose Buck Is That Hanging Outside The Kitchen?" He Demanded. 
   
   
 "There'S Some Doubt About It," I Said.  "I'Ve Been Accused of Being The 
 Owner." 
   
   
 "Then You'Re The Man I Want.  The Court Sits At Nine.  You'D Better Be 
 There, Or You'Ll Be Fetched!" 
   
   
 He Placed in my Hand What Proved to Be A Summons To Appear Before The 
 District Court That Morning On The Charge Of Carrying an Unregistered 
 Rifle And Shooting Game Without A License.  Two Native Policemen He Had 
 With Him Took Down The Buck From The Hook Outside The Kitchen Door And 
 Carried it Off As Evidence. 
   
   
 We Finished our Breakfast In great Contentment, And Strode Off 
 Arm-In-Arm To Find The Court-House, Feeling as If We Were Going To A 
 Play--Perhaps A Mite Indignant, As If The Subject Of The Play Were One 
 We Did Not Quite Approve, But Perfectly Certain Of A Good Time. 
   
   
 The Court Was Crowded.  The Bearded professor, His Four Boys, And Two 
 Other Natives Were There, As Well As Several English Officials, All 
 Apparently On Very Good Terms Indeed with Schillingschen. 
   
   
 As We Entered the Court Under The Eyes Of A Hostile Crowd I Heard One 
 Official Say To The Man Standing Next Him: 
   
   
 "I Hope He'Ll Make An Example Of This Case.  If He Doesn'T Every New 
 Arrival In this Country Will Try To Take The Law In his Own Hands.  I 
 Hope He Fines Him The Limit!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 157 
 "Give Me Your Hunting-Knife, Fred!" Said I, And Fred laughed as He 
 Passed it To Me.  For The Moment I Think He Thought I Meant To Plunge 
 It Into The Too Talkative Official'S Breast. 
   
   
 First They Called a Few Township Cases.  A Drunken Muhammedan Was Fined 
 Five Rupees, And A Hindu Was Ordered to Remove His Garbage Heap Before 
 Noon.  Three Natives Were Ordered to The Chain-Gang For A Week For 
 Fighting, And A Masai Charged with Stealing Cattle Was Remanded.  Then 
 My Case Was Called, Very Solemnly, By A Magistrate Scarcely Any Older 
 Than Myself. 
   
   
 The Police Officer Acted as Prosecutor.  He Stated that "Acting On 
 Information Received" He Had Proceeded to The Hotel.  Outside Of Which 
 He Saw A Buck Hanging (Buck Produced in evidence);  That He Had Entered 
 The Hotel, Found Me At Breakfast, And That I Had Not Denied having Shot 
 The Buck.  He Called his Two Colored askaris To Prove That, And They 
 Reeled off What They Had To Say With The Speed of Men Who Had Been 
 Thoroughly Rehearsed.  Then He Put The German On The Stand, And 
 Schillingschen, With A Savage Glare At Me, Turned on His Verbal 
 Artillery.  He Certainly Did His Worst. 
   
   
 "This Morning," Be Announced, After Having Been Duly Sworn On The Book, 
 "That Young Man Whose Name I Do Not Know Approached my Tent While I Was 
 Dressing.  The Sound Of A Rifle Being Fired had Awakened me Earlier 
 Than Usual.  He Carried a Rifle, And I Put Two And Two Together And 
 Concluded he Had Shot Something.  Not Having Seen Him Ever Before, And 
 He Standing Before My Tent, I Asked him His Name.  He Refused to Tell 
 Me, And That Made Me Suspicious.  Then Came My Four Boys Carrying a 
 Buck, Which They Assured me They Had Seen Him Shoot.  I Asked him 
 Whether He Had A License To Shoot Game, And He At Once Threatened to 
 Shoot Me If I Did Not Mind My Own Business.  Therefore, I Sent A Note 
 To The Police At Once." 
   
   
 His Four Boys Were Then Put On The Stand In turn, And Told Their Story 
 Through An Interpreter.  Their Words Identical.  If The Interpreter 
 Spoke Truth One Account Did Not Vary From The Next In the Slightest 
 Degree, And That Fact Alone  Should Have Aroused the Suspicion Of Any 
 Unprejudiced judge. 
   
   
 Having The Right To Cross-Examine, I Asked each In turn Whether The 
 Rifle I Had Brought With Me To Court Was The Same They Had Seen Me 
 Using.  They Asserted it Was.  Then I Recalled the German And Asked him 
 The Same Question.  He Also Replied in the Affirmative.  I Asked him 
 How He Knew.  He Said He Recognized the Mark On The Butt Where The 
 Varnish Had Been Chafed away. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 158 
 Then I Handed the Hunting Knife I Had Borrowed from To The Police 
 Officer And Demanded that He Have The Bullet Cut Out Of The Buck'S 
 Carcass.  The Court Could Not Object To That, So Under The Eyes Of At 
 Least Fifty Witnesses A Flattened mauser Bullet Was Produced.  I Called 
 Attention To The Fact That My Rifle Was A Lee-Enfield That Could Not 
 Possibly Have Fired a Mauser Bullet.  The Court Was Young And Very 
 Dignified--Examined the Bullet And My Rifle--And Had To Be Convinced. 
   
   
 "Very Well," Was The Verdict On That Count, "It Is Proved that You Did 
 Not Shoot This Particular Buck, Unless The Police Have Evidence That 
 You Used a Different Rifle." 
   
   
 The Policeman Confessed that He Had No Evidence Along That Line, So The 
 First Charge Was Dismissed. 
   
   
 "But You Are Charged," Said The Magistrate, "With Carrying an 
 Unregistered rifle, And Shooting Without A License." 
   
   
 For Answer I Produced my Certificate Of Registration And The Big Game 
 License We Had Paid For In mombasa. 
   
   
 "Why Didn'T You Say So Before?" Demanded the Magistrate. 
   
   
 "I Wasn'T Asked," Said I. 
   
   
 "Case Dismissed!" Snapped his Honor, And The Court Began To Empty. 
   
   
 "Don'T Let It Stop There!" Urged will Excitedly.  "That Heinie And His 
 Boys Have All Committed perjury;  Charge Them With It!" 
   
   
 I Turned to The Police Officer. 
   
   
 "I Charge All Those Witnesses With Perjury!" I Said. 
   
   
 "Oh," He Laughed, "You Can'T Charge Natives With That.  If The Law 
 Against Perjury Was Strictly Enforced the Jails Wouldn'T Hold A 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 159 
 Fiftieth Of Them!  They Don'T Understand." 
   
   
 "But That Blackguard With A Beard--That Rascal Schillingschen 
 Understands!" Said I.  "Arrest Him!  Charge Him With It!" 
   
   
 "That'S For The Court To Do," He Answered.  "I'Ve No Authority." 
   
   
 The Magistrate Had Gone. 
   
   
 "Who Is The Senior Official In this Town?" I Demanded. 
   
   
 "There He Goes," He Answered.  "That Man In the White Suit With The 
 Round White Topee Is The Collector." 
   
   
 So We Three Followed the Collector To His Office, Arriving about Two 
 Minutes After The Man Himself.  The Goanese Clerk Had Been In the 
 Court, And Recognized me.  He Had Not Stayed to Hear The End. 
    
   
 "Fines Should Be Paid In the Court, Not Here!" He Intimated rudely. 
   
   
 We Wasted no Time With Him But Walked on Through, And The Collector 
 Greeted us Without Obvious Cordiality.  He Did Not Ask Us To Sit Down. 
   
   
 "My Friend Here Has Come To Tell You About That Man Schillingschen," 
 Said Fred. 
   
   
 "I Suppose You Mean Professor Schillingschen!" 
   
   
 The Collector Was A Clean-Shaven Man With A Blue Jowl That Suffered 
 From Blunt Razors, And A Temper Rendered raw By Native Cooking.  But He 
 Had Photos Of Feminine Relations And A Little House In a Dreary Midland 
 Street On His Desk, And Was No Doubt Loyal To The Light He Saw.  I 
 Wished we Had Monty With Us.  One Glimpse Of The Owner Of A Title That 
 Stands Written In the Doomsday Book Would Have Outshone The Halo Of 
 Schillingschen'S Culture. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 160 
 I Rattled off What I Had To Say, Telling The Story From Th Moment I 
 Started to Follow Hassan From The Hotel Down To The End, Omitting 
 Nothing. 
   
   
 "Schillingschen Is Worse Than A Spy.  He'S A Black-Hearted, Schemer. 
 He'S Planning To Upset British Rule In this Protectorate And Make It 
 Easy For The Germans To Usurp!" 
   
   
 "This Is Nonsense!" The Collector Interrupted.  "Professor 
 Schillingschen Is The Honored friend Of The British Government.  He 
 Came To Us Here With The Most Influential Backing--Letter Of 
 Introduction From Very Exalted personages, I Assure You!  Professor 
 Schillingschen Is One Of The Most, If Not The Most, Learned 
 Ethnologists In the World To-Day.  How Dare You Traduce Him!" 
   
   
 "But You Heard Him Tell Lies In court!" I Gasped.  "You Were There. 
 You Heard His Evidence Absolutely Disproved.  How Do You Explain That 
 Away?" 
   
   
 "I Don'T Attempt To!  The Explanation Is For You To Make!" He Answered. 
         "The Fact That He Did Not Succeed in proving His Case Against 
 You Is Nothing In itself!  Many A Case In court Is Lost From Lack Of 
 Proper Evidence!  And One More Matter!  Lady Isobel Saffren Waldon Is 
 Staying--Or Rather, I Should Say, Was Staying at The Hotel.  She Is Now 
 Staying at My House.  She Complains To Me Of Very Rude Treatment At The 
 Hands Of You Three Men--Insolent Treatment I Should Call It!  I Can 
 Assure You That The Way To Get On In this Protectorate Is Not To Behave 
 Like Cads Toward Ladies Of Title!  I Understand That Her Maid Is Afraid 
 To Be Caught Alone By Any One Of You, And That Lady Saffren Waldon 
 Herself Feels Scarcely Any Safer!" 
   
   
 Fred and I Saw The Humor Of The Thing, And That Enabled us To Save Will 
 From Disaster.  There Never Was A Man More Respectful Of Women Than 
 Will.  He Would Even Get Off The Sidewalk For A Black Woman, And Would 
 Neither Tell Nor Laugh At The Sort Of Stories That Pass Current About 
 Women In some Smoking-Rooms.  His Hair Bristled.  His Ears Stuck Out On 
 Either Side Of His Head.  He Leaned forward--Laid One Strong Brown Hand 
 On The Desk--And Shook His Left Fist Under The Collector'S Nose. 
   
   
 "You Poor Boob!" He Exploded.  Then He Calmed himself.  "I'M Sorry For 
 Your Government If You'Re The Brightest Jewel It Has For This Job! 
 That Jane Will Use Everything You'Ve Got Except The Squeal!  Great 
 Suffering Jemima!  Your Title Is Collector, Is It?  Do You Collect Bugs 
 By Any Chance?  You Act Like It!  So Help You Two Men And A Boy, A 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 161 
 Bughouse Is Where I Believe You Belong!  Come Along, Fellows, He'Ll 
 Bite Us If We Stay!" 
   
   
 "Be Advised" Said The Collector, Leaning Back In his Chair And 
 Sneering.  "Behave Yourselves!  This Is No Country For Taking Chances 
 With The Law!" 
   
   
 "Remember Courtney'S Advice," Said Fred when We Got Outside.  "Suppose 
 We Give Him A Few Days To Learn The Facts About Lady Isobel, And Then 
 Go Back And Try Him Again?" 
   
   
 "Say!" Answered will, Stopping and Turning To Face Us.  "What D'You 
 Take Me For?  I Like My Meals.  I Like Three Squares A Day, And 
 Tobacco, And Now And Then A Drink.  But If This Was The Sahara, And 
 That Man Had The Only Eats And Drinks, I'D Starve." 
   
   
 "Telling Him The Truth Wouldn'T Be Accepting Favors From Him," 
 Counseled fred. 
   
   
 "I Wouldn'T Tell Him The Time!" 
   
   
 That Attitude--And Will Insisted that All The Officials In the Land 
 Would Prove Alike--Limited our Choice, For Unless We Were To Allay 
 Official Suspicion It Would Be Hopeless To Get Away Northward. 
 Southward Into German East Seemed the Only Way To Go;  There Was 
 Apparently No Law Against Travel In that Direction.  On Our Way To The 
 Hotel We Passed coutlass, Striding along Smirking To Himself, Headed 
 Toward The Office From Which We Had Just Come. 
   
   
 "I'Ll Bet You," Said Will, "He'S Off To Get An Ammunition Permit, And 
 Permission To Go Where He Damned well Pleases!  I'Ll Bet He Gets Both! 
 This Government'S The Limit!" 
   
   
 We Laughed, But Will Proved more Than Half Right.  Coutlass Did Get 
 Ammunition.  Lady Saffren Waldon'S Influence Was Already Strong Enough 
 For That.  He Did Not Ask For Leave To Go Anywhere For The Simple 
 Reason That His Movements Depended wholly On Ours--A Fact That 
 Developed later. 
   
   
 At The Hotel There Was A Pleasant Surprise For Us.  A Squarely Built, 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 162 
 Snub-Nosed native, Not Very Dark Skinned but Very Ugly--His Right Ear 
 Slit, And Almost All Of His Left Ear Missing--Without Any Of The Brass 
 Or Iron Wire Ornaments That Most Of The Natives Of The Land Affect, But 
 Possessed of A Harris Tweed shooting Jacket And, Of All Unexpected 
 Things, Boots That He Carried slung By The Laces From His Neck-Waited 
 For Us, Squatting With A Note Addressed to Fred tied in a Cleft Stick. 
    
   
 It Does Not Pay To Wax Enthusiastic Over Natives, Even When One 
 Suspects They Bring Good News.  We Took The Letter From Him, Told Him 
 To Wait, And Went On In.  Once Out Of The Man'S Hearing Fred tore The 
 Letter Open And Read It Aloud To Us. 
   
   
         "Herewith My Kazimoto," It Ran.  "Be Good To Him.  It 
 Occurred to Me That You Might Not Care After All To     Linger In 
 Nairobi, And It Seemed hardly Fair To Keep The  Boy From Getting a Good 
 Job Simply Because Be Could Make        Me Comfortable For The 
 Remainder Of A Week.  So, As There      Happened to Be Ae Special Train 
 Going Up I Begged leave         For Him To Ride In the Caboose.  He Is 
 A Splendid Gun- Bearer.  He Never Funks, But Reloads Coolly Under The 
 Most Nerve-Trying Conditions.  He Has His Limitations, Of       Course, 
 But I Have Found Him Brave And Faithful, And I  Pass Him Along To You 
 With Confidence. 
   
   
         "And By The Way:  He Has Been To Mount Elgon With Me.  I 
 Was Not Looking For Buried ivory, But He Knows Where The        Caves 
 Are In which Anything Might Be! 
         "Wishing You All Good Luck,  Yours Truly, 
                                                         "F. Courtney" 
   
   
 For The Moment We Felt Like Men Possessed of A New Horse Apiece.  We 
 Were For Dashing Out To Look The Acquisition Over.  But Will Checked us. 
   
   
 "Recall What Courtney Said About A Dog?" He Asked.  "We Can'T All Own 
 Him!" 
   
   
 Fred sat Down.  "Ex-Missionaries Own Dice," He Announced.  "That'S How 
 They Come To Be Ex!  You'Ll Find Them In the Little Box On The Shelf, 
 Will.  We'Ll Throw A Main For Kazimoto!" 
   
   
 "I Know A Better Gamble Than That!' 
   
   
 "Name It, America." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 163 
 "Bring The Coon In and Have Him Choose." 
   
   
 So I Went Out And Felt Tempted to Speak Cordially To The Homeless Ugly 
 Black Man--To Give Him A Hint That He Was Welcome.  But It Is A Fatal 
 Mistake To Make A "Soft" Impression On Even The Best Natives At The 
 Start. 
   
   
 "Karibu!"* I Said Gruffly When I Had Looked him Over, Using One Of The 
 Six Dozen Swahili Words I Knew As Yet.  [*Karibu, Enter, Come In.] 
   
   
 He Arose With The Unlabored ease That I Have Since Learned to Look For 
 In All Natives Worth Employing;  And Followed me Indoors.  Will And 
 Fred were Seated in judicial Attitudes, And I Took A Chair Beside Them. 
   
   
 "What Is Your Name?" Demanded fred. 
   
   
 "Kazimoto." 
   
   
 "Um-M!  That Means 'Work-Like-The-Devil.'  Let Us Hope You Live Up To 
 It.  Your Former Master Gives You A Good Character." 
   
   
 "Why Not, Bwana?  My Spirit Is Good." 
   
   
 "Do You Want Work?" 
   
   
 "Yes." 
   
   
 "How Much Money Do You Expect To Get?" 
   
   
 "Sijui!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 164 
 "Don'T Say Sijui!" I Cut In, Remembering Schillingschen'S Method. 
   
   
 "Six Rupees A Month And Posho," He Said Promptly.  Posho Means Rations, 
 Or Money In lieu Of Rations. 
   
   
 "Don'T You Rather Fancy Yourself?" Suggested fred with A Perfectly 
 Straight Face. 
   
   
 "Say Two Dollars A Month All Told!" Will Whispered to Me Behind His 
 Hand. 
   
   
 "I Am A Good Gun-Bearer!" The Native Answered.  "My Spirit Is Good.  I 
 Am Strong.  There Is Nobody Better Than Me As A Gun-Bearer!" 
   
   
 "We Happen To Want A Headman," Answered fred.  "Have You Ever Been 
 Headman?" 
   
   
 "Would You Like To Be?" 
   
   
 "Yes." 
   
   
 "Are You Able?" 
   
   
 "Surely." 
   
   
 "Choose, Then.  Which Of Us Would You Like To Work For?" 
   
   
 "You!" He Answered promptly, Pointing at Fred. 
   
   
 It Was On The Tip Of The Tongue Of Every One Of Us To Ask Him Instantly 
 Why, But That Would Have Been Too Rank Indiscretion.  It Never Pays To 
 Seem Curious About A Native'S Personal Reasons, And It Was Many Weeks 
 Before We Knew Why He Had Made Up His Mind In advance To Choose Fred 
 And Not Either Of Us For His Master. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 165 
 His Choice Made, And The Offer Of His Services Accepted, He Took Over 
 Fred forthwith--Demanded his Keys--Found Out Which Our Room Was--Went 
 Over Our Belongings And Transferred the Best Of Our Things Into Fred'S 
 Bag And The Worst Of His Into Ours--Remade Fred'S Bed after A 
 Mysterious Fashion Of His Own, Taking One Of My New Blankets And One Of 
 Will'S In exchange For Fred'S Old Ones--Cleaned fred'S Guns Thoroughly 
 After Carefully Abstracting The Oil And Waste From Our Gun-Cases And 
 Transferring Them To Fred'S--Removed the Laces From My Shooting Boots 
 And Replaced them With Fred'S Knotted ones--Sharpened fred'S Razors And 
 Shaved himself With Mine (To The Enduring Destruction Of Its Once 
 Artistic Edge)--And Departed in the Direction Of The Bazaar. 
   
   
 He Returned at The End Of An Hour And A Half With A Motley Following Of 
 About Twenty, Arrayed in blankets Of Every Imaginable Faded hue And In 
 Every Stage Of Dirtiness. 
   
   
 "You Wanting Cook," He Announced.  "These Three Making Cook." 
   
   
 He Waved three Nondescripts To The Front, And We Chose A Tall Swahili 
 Because He Grinned better Than The Others.  "Although," As Fred 
 Remarked, "What The Devil Grinning Has To Do With Cooking Is More Than 
 Anybody Knows."  The Man, Whose Name Was Juma, Turned out To Be An 
 Execrable Cook, But As He Never Left Off Grinning Under Any 
 Circumstances (And It Would Have Been Impossible To Imagine 
 Circumstances Worse Than Those We Warred with Later On) We Never Had 
 The Heart To Dismiss Him. 
   
   
 After That, Will And I Selected a Servant Apiece Who Were Destined 
 Forever To Wage War On Kazimoto In hopeless Efforts To Prevent His 
 Giving Fred the Best End Of Everything.  Mine Was A Baganda Who Called 
 Himself Matches, Presumably Because His Real Name Was Unpronounceable. 
 Will Chose A Malindi Boy Named tengeneza (And That Means Arrange In 
 Order, Fix, Make Over, Manage, Mend--No End Of An Ominous Name!).  They 
 Were Both Outclassed from The Start By Kazimoto, But To Add To The 
 Handicap He Insisted that Since He Was A Headman He Would Need some One 
 To Help Look After Fred at Times When Other Duties Would Monopolize His 
 Attention.  He Himself Picked out An Imp Of Mischief Whose Tribe I 
 Never Ascertained, But Who Called himself Simba (Lion), And There And 
 Then Simba Departed up-Stairs To Steal For Fred whatever Was Left Of 
 Value Among Will'S Effects And Mine. 
   
   
 We Had Scarcely Got Used to The Idea Of Once More Having a Savage 
 Apiece To Wait On Us When Kazimoto Turned up At The Door With A String 
 Of Porters And A Goanese Railway Clerk.  We Had Left Our Tents And 
 Heavy Baggage Checked at The Station, But Had Said Nothing about Them 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 166 
 To Our New Headman;  However, He Had Made Inquiries And Worked out A 
 Plan On His Own Account.  The Railway Clerk Asked to Know Whether He 
 Should Let Kazimoto Have Our Things. 
   
   
 "Why?"' Demanded fred. 
   
   
 "This Hotel No Good!" Announced kazimoto.  "No Place For Boys.  Heap 
 Too Many Plenty People.  Pitching Camp, That Good!" 
   
   
 "All Right," Said Fred, And Then And There Paid Our Baggage Charges. 
   
   
 Presently Brown Of Lumbwa, Who Had Spent Most Of The Daylight Hours In 
 The Little Corrugated iron Bar Run By A Goanese In the Bazaar, Came 
 Lurching Past The Township Camping Ground, And Viewed kazimoto With His 
 Gang Pitching Our Tents.  He Asked questions, But Could Get No 
 Information, So Came Along To Us. 
   
   
 "Where You Schaps Going?" He Demanded, Leaning against The Wall.  Fred 
 Took Advantage Of The Opportunity And Examined him Narrowly As To His 
 Knowledge Of German East And Ways Of Getting There.  He Was In an 
 Aggravating Mood That Made At One Moment A Very Well Of Information Of 
 Him, And At The Next A Mere Garrulous Ass. 
   
   
 "Come Along O' Me T' Lumbwa," Was His Final Word On The Matter.  "I'Ll 
 Put You On A Road Nobody Knows An' Nobody, Uses!" 
   
   
 We Spent That Night Under Canvas And Talked the Matter Out.  The Usual 
 Way To Reach Lumbwa Was To Wait For A Freight, Or Construction Train 
 And Beg Leave To Ride On That, For As Yet, No Passenger Trains Were 
 Running Regularly On The Western Section Of The Line.  But There Was No 
 Rule Against Traveling anywhere South Of The Equator, And It Was Our 
 Purpose To March Down Into German East Without Any One Being The Wiser. 
   
   
 The Next Morning We Imagined brown Was Sober And Sorry Enough To Hold 
 His Tongue, So, Without Going Into Details With Him, We Agreed to Go 
 With Him "Some Of The Way," And Fred spent The Whole Of That Morning In 
 The Bazaar Buying Loads Of Food And General Supplies.  Will And I 
 Engaged porters, And With Kazimoto'S Aid As Interpreter, Had Fifty 
 Ready To March That Afternoon. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 167 
 The Whole Trick Of Starting On A Journey Is To Start.  If You Only Make 
 A Mile Or Two The First Day You Have At Least Done Better Than Stand 
 Still;  Loads Have Been Apportioned and Porters Broken In to Some 
 Extent;  You Have Broken The Spell Of  Inertia, And Hereafter There Is 
 Less Likely To Be Trouble.  We Made Up Our Minds To Get Away That 
 Afternoon, And I Was Sent Back To The Hotel To Find Brown, Who Had Gone 
 For His Belongings. 
   
   
 If Brown Had Stayed sober All Might Have Been Well, But His Headache 
 And Feeling Of Unworthiness Had Been Too Much For Him And I Found Him 
 With A Straw In the Neck Of A Bottle Of Whisky Alternately Laying Down 
 Law To Georges Coutlass And Drinking Himself Into A State Of Temporary 
 Bliss. 
   
   
 "You Greeks Dunno Nothin'!" He Asserted as I Came In.  "You Never Did 
 Know Nothin', An' You'Re Never Goin' To Know Nothin'!  'Cause Why? 
 'I'Ll Tell You.  Simply Because I Am Goin' To Tell!  I'M Mum, I Am! 
 When S'Mother Gents An' Me 'Ave Business, That'S Our Business--See! 
 None O' Your Business--'Ss Our Business, An' I'M Not Goin' To Tell You 
 Greeks Nothin' About Where We'Re Off To, Nor Why, Nor When.  An' You 
 Put That In your Pipe An' Smoke It!" 
   
   
 I Sat In the Dining-Room For A While, Hoping That The Greek Would Go 
 Away;  But As Brown Was Fast Drinking Himself Into A Condition When He 
 Could Not Have Been Moved except On Stretcher, And Was Momentarily 
 Edging Closer To An Admission Of All He Knew Or Guessed about Our 
 Intention, I Took The Bull By The Horns At Last--Snatched away His 
 Whisky Bottle, And Walked off With It. 
   
   
 He Came After Me Swearing Like A Trooper, And His Own Porters, Who Had 
 Been Waiting For More Than An Hour Beside His Loads, Trailed along 
 After Him.  Once In our Camp We Made A Hammock For Him Out Of A Blanket 
 Tied to A Pole, And Made Him Over To Two Porters With The Promise That 
 They Would Get No Supper If They Lost Him.  Then We Started--Uphill, 
 Toward The Red kikuyu Heights, Where Settlers Were Already Trying To 
 Grow Potatoes For Which There Was No Market, And Onions That Would Only 
 Run To Seed. 
   
   
 To Our Left Rear And Right Front Were The Highest Mountain Ranges In 
 Africa.  Before Us Was The Pass Through Which The Railway Threaded over 
 The Wide High Table-Land Before Dipping Downward To Victoria Nyanza. 
 On Our Left Front Was All Kikuyu Country, And After That Lumbwa, And 
 Native Reserves, And Forest, And Swamp, And Desert, And The German 
 Boundary. 
   
   
 We Made A Long March Of It That First Day, And Camped after Dark Within 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 168 
 Two Miles Of Kikuyu Station.  Most Of The Scrub Thereabouts Was Castor 
 Oil Plant, That Makes Very Poor Fuel;  Yet There Were Lions In plenty 
 That Roared and Scouted around Us Even Before The Tents Were Pitched. 
   
   
 Nobody Got Much Sleep That Night, Although The Porters Were Perfectly 
 Indifferent To The Risk Of Snoozing On The Watch.  Kazimoto Produced a 
 Thing Called a Kiboko--A Whip Of Hippopotamus-Hide A Yard And A Half 
 Long, And With The Aid Of That And Will'S Good Humor We Constituted a 
 Yelling Brigade, Whose Business Was To Make The Welkin Ring With 
 Godless Noises Whenever A Lion Came Close Enough To Be Dangerous. 
   
   
 I Made Up A Signal Party Of All Our Personal Boys With Our Lanterns, 
 Swinging Them In frantic Patterns In the Darkness In a Way To Terrify 
 The Very Night Itself.  Fred played concertina Nearly All Night Long, 
 And When Dawn Came, Though There Were Tracks Of Lions All About The 
 Camp We Were Only Tired and Sleepy.  Nobody Was Missing; Nobody Killed. 
   
   
 We Never Again Took Lions So Seriously, Although We Always Built Fires 
 About The Camp In lion Country When That Was Possible.  Partly By Dint 
 Of Carelessness That Brought No Ill Results, And Partly From 
 Observation We Learned that Where Game Is Plentiful Lions Are More 
 Curious Than Dangerous, And That Unless Something Should Happen To 
 Enrage Them, Or The Game Has Gone Away And They Are Hungry, They Are 
 Likely To Let Well Alone. 
   
   
 If There Are Dogs In camp--And We Bought Three Terrier Pups That 
 Morning From A Settler At Kikuyu--Leopards Are Likely To Be More 
 Troublesome Than Lions.  The Leopards Seemed to Yearn For Dog-Meat Much 
 As Brown Of Lumbwa Yearned for Whisky. 
   
   
 The Journey To Lumbwa Is One Of The Pleasantest I Remember.  We Took 
 Brown'S Supply Of Whisky From Him, Locked up With Our Own, Sent Him 
 Ahead In the Hammock, And Let Him As Work As Guide By Promises Of 
 Whisky For Supper If He Did His Duty, And Threats Of Mere Cold Water If 
 He Failed. 
   
   
 "But Water Rots My Stomach!" He Objected. 
   
   
 "Lead On, Then!" Was The Invariable, Remorseless Answer.  So Brown Led 
 Until We Reached naivasha With Its Strange Lake Full Of Hippo At An 
 Elevation So Great That The Mornings Are Frosty (And That Within Sight 
 Of The Line) There Was Never A Day That We Were Once Out Of Sight Of 
 Game From Dawn To Dark.  When We Awoke The Morning Mist Would Scatter 
 Slowly And Betray Sleepy Herds Of Antelope, That Would Rise Leisurely, 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 169 
 Stand Staring at Us, Suddenly Become Suspicious, And Then Gallop Off 
 Until The Whole Plain Was A Panorama Of Wheeling Herds, Reminding One 
 Of The Cavalry Maneuvers At Aldershot When The Guards Regiments Were 
 Pitted against The Regular Cavalry--All Riding and No Wits. 
   
   
 Although We Had To Shoot Enough Meat For Ourselves And Men, We Never 
 Once Took Advantage Of Those Surprise Parties In the Early Morning, 
 Preferring To Stalk Warier Game At The End Of A Long March.  The Rains 
 Were A Thing Of The Past, And We Seldom Troubled to Pitch Tents But 
 Slept Under The Stars With A Sensation That The Universe Was One Vast 
 Place Of Peace. 
   
   
 Occasionally We Reached an Elevation From Which We Could Look Down And 
 See Men Toiling To Build The Railway, That Already Reached nyanza After 
 The Unfinished fashion Of Work Whose Chief Aim Is Making a Showing. 
 Profits, Performances Were Secondary Matters;  That Railway'S One 
 Purpose Was To Establish Occupation Of The Head Waters Of The Nile And 
 Refute The German Claim To Prior Rights There.  At Irregular Intervals 
 Trains Already Went Down To The Lake, And Passengers Might Ride On 
 Suffrance;  But We Deluded ourselves With The Belief That By Marching 
 We Threw Enemies Off The Scent.  It Was Pure Delusion, But Extremely 
 Pleasant While It Lasted.  Where Africa Is Green And High She Is A 
 Lovely Land To March Across. 
   
   
 Brown Grew Sober On The Trip, As If Approaching His Chosen Home Gave 
 Him A Sense Of Responsibility.  His Own Reason For Preferring The March 
 To A Ride In a Construction Train Was Simple: 
   
   
 "Every Favor You Ask O' Gov'Ment, Boys, Leaves One Less To Fall Back On 
 In A Pinch!  Ask Not, And They'Ll Forget Some O' Your Peccadillos.  Ask 
 Too Often, And One Day When You Really Need a Kindness You'Ll Find The 
 Bank O' Good Hope Bu'Sted!  And, Believe Me, Boys, That 'Ud Be A Hell 
 Of A Predicament For A Poor Sufferin' Settler To Find Himself In!" 
   
   
 The Approach To Lumbwa Was Over Steep Hilly Grass Land, Between Forests 
 Of Cedar--Perfect Country, Kept Clean By A Wind That Smelt Of Fern And 
 Clover. 
   
   
 "You Can Tell We'Re Gettin' Near My Place," Said Brown, "By The Number 
 O' Leopards That'S About." 
   
   
 We Had To Keep Our Three Pups Close At Heel All The Time, And Even At 
 That We Lost Two Of Them.  One Was Taken From Between Will'S Feet As He 
 Sat In camp Cleaning His Rifle.  All He Heard Was The Dog'S Yelp, And 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 170 
 All He Saw Was A Flash Of Yellow As The Leopard Made For The Boulders 
 Close At Hand.  The Other Was Taken Out Of My Tent.  I Had Tied it To 
 The Tent Pole, But The Stout Cord Snapped like A Hair And The Darkness 
 Swallowed both Leopard And Its Prey Before I Could As Much As Reach My 
 Rifle To Get A Shot. 
   
   
 "Splendid Country For Farmin"' Brown Remarked, "Splendid.  Only You 
 Can'T Keep Sheep Because The Leopards Take 'Em.  You Can'T Keep Hens 
 For The Same Reason.  Nor Yet Cows, Because The Leopards Get The 
 Calves--Leastways, That'S To Say Unless You Watch Out Awful Cautious. 
 Nor Yet You Can'T Keep Pigeons, 'Cause The Leopards Take Them Too.  I 
 Sent To England For Fancy Pigeons--A Dozen Of Em.  Leopards Got All But 
 One, So I Put Him In the Loft Above My Own House, Where It Seemed to Me 
 'Tweren'T Possible For A Leopard To Get, Supposin' He'D Dared.  Went 
 Away The Next Day For Some Shootin', An' Lo And Behold!--Came Back That 
 Evenin' To Discover My Cook An' Three Others Carryin' On As If Kingdom 
 Come Had Took Place At Last.  Never Heard Or Saw Such A Jamboree.  The 
 Blamed leopard Was Up In the Loft;  And Had Eaten The Pigeon, Feathers 
 And All, But Couldn'T Get Out Again!" 
   
   
 "What Happened?  Nothin'!  I Was That Riled i Didn'T Stop To 
 Think--Fixed a Bayonet On The Old Martini The Gov'Ment Supplies To 
 Settlers Out Of The Depths Of Its Wisdom An' Generosity--Climbed up By 
 The Same Route The Leopard Took--Invaded him--An' Skewered him Wi' The 
 Bayonet In the Dark!  I Wouldn'T Do It Again For A Kingdom--But I Won'T 
 Buy More Pigeons Either!" 
   
   
 "What Do You Raise On Your Farm, Then--Pigs?" We Asked. 
   
   
 "No, The Leopards Take Pigs." 
   
   
 "What Then?" 
   
   
 "Well--As I Was Explainin' To That Greek Georges Coutlass At 
 Nairobi--There'S A Way Of Farmin' Out Your Cattle Among The Natives 
 That Beats Keepin' 'Em Yourself.  The Natives Put 'Em In the Village 
 Pen O' Nights;  An' Besides, They Know About The Business. 
   
   
 "All You Need do Is Give 'Em A Heifer Calf Once In a While, And They'Re 
 Contented.  I Keep A Herd O' Two Hundred cows In a Native Village Not 
 Far From My Place.  The Natural Increase O' Them Will Make Me 
 Well-To-Do Some Day." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 171 
 The Day Before We Reached brown'S Tiny Homestead We Heard A Lot Of 
 Shooting Over The Hill Behind Us. 
   
   
 "That'Ll Be Railway Men Takin' A Day Off After Leopards," Announced 
 Brown With The Air Of A Man Who Can Not Be Mistaken. 
   
   
 Nevertheless, Fred and I Went Back To See, But Could Make Out Nothing. 
 We Lay On The Top Of The Hill And Watched for Two Or Three Hours, But 
 Although We Heard Rifle Firing Repeatedly We Did Not Once Catch Sight 
 Of Smoke Or Men.  We Marched into Camp Late That Night With A Feeling 
 Of Foreboding That We Could Not Explain But That Troubled us Both 
 Equally. 
   
   
 Once Or Twice In the Night We Heard Firing again, As If Somebody'S Camp 
 Not Very Far Away Was Invaded by Leopards, Or Perhaps Lions.  Yet At 
 Dawn There Were No Signs Of Tents.  And When That Night We Arrived at 
 Brown'S Homestead We Seemed to Have The Whole World To Ourselves. 
   
   
 Brown'S House Was A Tiny Wooden Affair With A Thick Grass Roof.  It 
 Boasted a Big Fireplace At One End Of The Living-Room, And A Chimney 
 That Brown Had Built Himself So Cunningly That Smoke Could Go Up And 
 Out But No Leopards Could Come Down. 
   
   
 He Got Very Drunk That Night To Celebrate The Home-Coming, And Stayed 
 Completely Drunk For Three Days, We Making Use Of His Barn To Give Our 
 Porters A Good Rest.  By Day We Shot Enough Meat For The Camp, And At 
 Night We Sat Over The Log Fire, Praying That Brown Might Sober Up, Fred 
 Singing Songs To His Infernal Concertina, And All The Natives Who Could 
 Crowd In the Doorway Listening To Him With All Their Ears.  Fred made 
 Vast Headway In native Favor, And Learned a Lot Of Two Languages At 
 Once. 
   
   
 Every Day We Sent Kazimoto And Another Boy Exploring among The Lumbwa 
 Tribe, Gathering Information As To Routes And Villages, And It Was 
 Kazimoto Who Came Running In breathless One Night Just As Brown Was At 
 Last Sobering Up, With The News That Some Greeks Had Swooped down On 
 Brown'S Cattle, Had Wounded two Or Three Of The Villagers Who Herded 
 Them, And Had Driven The Whole Herd Away Southward. 
   
   
 That News Sobered brown Completely.  He Took The Bottle Of Whisky He 
 Had Just Brought Up From The Cellar And Replaced it Unopened. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 172 
 "There'S On'Y One Greek In the World Knew Where My Cattle Were!" He 
 Announced grimly.  "There'S On'Y One Greek I Ever Talked to About 
 Cattle.  Coutlass, By The Great Horn Spoon!  The Blackguard Swore He 
 Was After You Chaps--Swore He Didn'T Care Nothing about Me!  What He 
 Did To You Was None O' My Business, O' Course--An' I Figured anyway As 
 You Could Look Out For Yourselves!  Not That I Told The Swine Any O' 
 Your Business, Mind!  Not Me!  I Was So Sure He Was Gunnin' For You 
 That I Told Him My Own Business To Throw Him Off Your Track!  And Now 
 The Devil Goes An' Turns On Me!" 
   
   
 He Got Down His Rifle And Began Overhauling It, Feverishly, Yet With A 
 Deliberate Care That Was Curious In a Man So Recently Drunk.  While He 
 Cleaned and Oiled be Gave Orders To His Own Boys;  And What With Having 
 Servants Of Our Own And Having To Talk To Them Mostly In the Native 
 Tongue, We Were Able To Understand Pretty Well The Whole Of What He 
 Said. 
   
   
 "You'Re Not Going To Start After Them To-Night?" Fred objected.  But He 
 And Will Were Also Already Overhauling Weapons, For The Second Time 
 That Evening.  (It Is Religion With The True Hunter Never To Eat Supper 
 Until His Rifle Is Cleaned and Oiled.)  I Got My Own Rifle Down From 
 The Shelf Over Brown'S Stone Mantelpiece. 
   
   
 "What D'You Take Me For?" Demanded brown.  "There'S One Pace They'Ll Go 
 At, An' That'S The Fastest Possible.  There'S One Place They'Ll Head 
 For, An' That'S German East.  They Can'T March Faster Than The Cattle, 
 An' The Cattle'Ll Have To Eat.  Maybe They'Ll Drive 'Em All Through The 
 First Night, And On Into The Next Day;  But After That They'Ll Have To 
 Rest 'Em An' Graze 'Em A While.  That'S When We'Ll Begin To Gain.  The 
 Tireder The Cattle Get, The Faster We'Ll Overhaul 'Em, For We Can Eat 
 While We'Re Marchin', Which The Cattle Can'T!  You Chaps Just Stay Here 
 An' Look After My Farm Till I Come Back!" 
   
   
 "You Mean You Propose To Go Alone After Them?" Asked fred. 
   
   
 "Why Not?  Whose Cattle Are They?" 
   
   
 He Was Actually Disposed to Argue The Point. 
   
   
 "Man Alive, There'Ll Be Shootin'!" He Insisted.  "If They Once Get Over 
 The Border With All Those Cattle, The Germans'Ll Never Hand 'Em Over 
 Until Every Head O' Cattle'S Gone.  They'Ll Fine 'Em, An' Arrest 'Em, 
 An' Trick 'Em, An' Fine 'Em Again Until The Germans Own The Herd All 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 173 
 Legal An' Proper--An' Then They'Ll Chase The Greeks Back To British 
 East For Punishment Same As They Always Do.  What Good 'Ud That Be To 
 Me?  No, No!  Me--I'M Going To Catch 'Em This Side O' The Line, Or Else 
 Bu'St--An' I Won'T Be Too Partic'Lar Where The Line'S Drawn Either! 
 There'S Maybe A Hundred miles To The South O' Their Line That The 
 Germans Don'T Patrol More Often Than Once In a Leap-Year.  If I Catch 
 Them Greeks In any O' That Country, I'M Going To Kid Myself Deliberate 
 That It'S British East, And Act Accordin'!" 
   
   
 At Last We Convinced him, Although I Don'T Remember How, For He Was 
 Obstinate From The Aftermath Of Whisky, That We Would No More Permit 
 Him To Go Alone Than He Would Consider Abandoning His Cattle.  Then We 
 Had To Decide Who Should Follow With Our String Of Porters, For If 
 Forced marching Was In order It Was Obvious That We Should Far 
 Outdistance Our Train. 
   
   
 We Invited brown To Follow With All The Men While We Three Skirmished 
 Ahead, But He Waxed so Apoplectically Blasphemous At The Very Thought 
 Of It That Fred assured him The Proposal Was Intended for A Joke.  Then 
 We Argued among Ourselves, Coaxed, Blarneyed, Persuaded, And Tried to 
 Bribe One Another.  Finally, All Else Failing, We Tossed a Coin For It, 
 Odd Man Out, And Fred lost. 
   
   
 So Brown, Will Yerkes And I, With Kazimoto, Our Two Personal Servants, 
 And Six Boys To Carry One Tent For The Lot Of Us And Food And Cooking 
 Pots, Started off Just As The Moon Rose Over The Nearest Cedars, And 
 Laughed at Fred marshaling The Sleepy Porters By Lamplight In the Open 
 Space Between The House And Barn.  He Was To Follow As Fast As The 
 Loaded porters Could Be Made To Travel, And With That Concertina Of His 
 To Spur Them On There Was Little Likelihood Of Losing Touch.  But The 
 Rear-Guard, When It Comes To Pursuing a Retreating Enemy, Is Ever The 
 Least Alluring Place. 
   
   
 "You'Ve Got All The Luck," He Shouted.  "Make The Most Of It Or I'Ll 
 Never Gamble On The Fall Of A Coin Again!" 
   
   
 That Pursuit Was A Journey Of Accidents, Chapter After Chapter Of Them 
 In Such Close Sequence That The Whole Was A Nightmare Without Let-Up Or 
 Reason.  I Began The Book By Falling Into An Elephant Pit. 
   
   
 Before We Had Gone A Mile In the Dark We Stood In doubt As To Whether 
 The Most Practicable Trail Went Right Or Left.  Brown Set His Own 
 Indecision Down Frankly To The Whisky That Had Muddled him.  Even 
 Kazimoto, Who Had Passed that Way Three Times, Did Not Know For 
 Certain.  So I Went Forward To Scout--Stepped into The Deep Shadow Of 
 Some Jungle--Trod On Nothing--Threw The Other Foot Forward To Save 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 174 
 Myself--And Fell Downward Into Blackness For An Eternity. 
   
   
 I Brought Up At Last Unhurt In the Trash And Decaying Vegetation At The 
 Bottom Of A Pit, And Looked up To See The Stars In a Rough 
 Parallelogram Above Me, Whose Edge I Guessed was More Than Thirty Feet 
 Above My Head.  I Started to Dig My Way Out, But The Crumbling Sides 
 Fell In and Threatened to Bury Me Alive Unless I Kept Still.  So I 
 Shouted until My Lungs Ached, But Without Result.  I Suppose The Noise 
 Went Trumpeting Upward Out Of The Hole And Away To The Clouds And The 
 Stars.  At Any Rate, Will And Brown Swore Afterward They Never Heard It. 
   
   
 I Was Fifteen Minutes In the Hole That Very Likely Had Held Many An 
 Elephant With His Legs Wedged together Under Him Until The Poor Brute 
 Perished of Thirst, Before It Occurred to Me To Fire My Rifle.  I Fired 
 Several Shots When I Did Think Of It;  But We Had Agreed on No System 
 Of Signals, And Instead Of Coming To Find Me At Once, The Other Two 
 Cursed me For Wasting Time Shooting at Leopards In the Dark Instead Of 
 Scouting For The Track.  I Used twenty Cartridges Before They Came To 
 See What Sort Of Battle I Was Waging, And With The Last Shot I Nearly 
 Blew Brown'S Helmet Off As He Stooped over The Hole To Look Down In. 
   
   
 Then There Were More Precious Minutes Wasted while Someone Cut A Long 
 Pole For Me To Swarm Up, And At The End Of That Time, When I Stood On 
 Firm Ground At Last And Wiped the Blood From Hands And Knees, We Were 
 No Wiser About The Proper Direction To Take. 
   
   
 The Next Accident Was A Little Before Midnight.  Will Yerkes Was 
 Leading, I Following, Next The Boys, And Brown Bringing Up The Rear 
 (For In those Wild Hills There Is Never A Good Track Wide Enough For 
 Two Men To March Abreast.  Even The Cattle Proceed in single File 
 Unless Driven Furiously.)  Will Came On A Leopard Devouring Its Kill, A 
 Fat Buck, In the Midst Of The Track In the Moonlight, And The Brute 
 Resented the Interruption Of His Meal.  It Slunk Into The Shadows 
 Before Will Could Get A Shot At It, And For The Next Two Hours Followed 
 Us, Slinking From Shadow To Shadow, Snarling and Growling.  It Plainly 
 Intended murder, But Which Of Us Was To Be The Victim, And When, There 
 Was No Means Of Guessing, So That The Nerves Of All Of Us Were Tortured 
 Every Time The Brute Approached. 
   
   
 We Wasted at Least Thirty Cartridges On Futile Efforts To Guess His 
 Whereabouts In velvet Black Shadows, And Brown Went Through All The 
 Stages From Simple Nervousness To Fear, And Then To Frenzy, Until We 
 Feared he Would Shoot One Of Us In frantic Determination To Ring The 
 Leopard'S Knell. 
   
   
 At Last The Brute Did Rush In, And Of Course Where Least Expected.  He 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 175 
 Seized one Of Our Porters By The Shoulder, His Claws Doing More Damage 
 Than His Teeth. I Shot Him By Thrusting My Rifle Into His Ear, And 
 Although That Dropped him Instantly His Claws, In the Dying Spasm And 
 By The Weight Of His Fall, Tore Wounds In the Man'S Arm Eighteen Or 
 Twenty Inches Long. 
   
   
 One Of The Things We Did Have With Us Was Bandages.  But It Took Time 
 To Attend To The Man'S Wounds Properly By Lamp And Moonlight, And After 
 That He Could Neither March Fast, Nor Was There Anywhere To Leave Him. 
   
   
 So Just Before Dawn Fred came Up With Us, And Was More Pleased at Our 
 Discomfiture Than Sympathetic. He Told Off Two Men To Carry The Injured 
 Porter To A Mission Station More Than A Day'S March Away, And 
 Redistributed the Loads. Then We Went On Again, Once More Placing Rock, 
 Hill, And Cedar Forest Between Us And Our Supply Column, This Time With 
 Fred'S Counsel Ringing In our Ears. 
   
   
 "Better Send For Nursemaids And Perambulators, And Have Yourselves 
 Pushed!" 
   
   
 At Noon That Day We Found The Track Of The Driven Cattle, And Soon 
 After That Came On The Half-Devoured carcass Of A Heifer That The 
 Greeks Had Shot, Presumably Because It Could Not March, And Perhaps 
 With The Added reason That Freshly-Killed meat Would Draw Off Leopards 
 And Hyenas And Provide Peace For A Few Miles. 
   
   
 Once On The Trail It Would Not Have Been Easy To Lose It, Except In the 
 Dark, For The Greek Marauders Were Bent On Speed and The Driven Cattle 
 Had Smashed down The Undergrowth In addition To Leaving Deep 
 Hoof-Prints At Every Water-Course. 
   
   
 The First Suspicion That Dawned on Me Of Something More Than Mere 
 Freebooting On The Part Of Coutlass, Was Due To The Discovery Of 
 Hoof-Prints Of Either Mules Or Horses.  I Was Marching alone In 
 Advance, And Came On Them Beside A Stream That Was Only Apparently 
 Fordable In that One Place.  After Making Sure Of What They Were I 
 Halted to Let Will And Brown Catch Up. 
   
   
 "Did Coutlass Have Money Enough To Buy Mules For Himself And Gang?" 
 Wondered will. 
   
   
 "That Robber?" Snorted brown.  "When Lady Saffren Waldon Refused him 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 176 
 Tobacco Money In the Hotel He Tried to Borrow From Me!" 
   
   
 "Where Could Be Steal Mules?" Will Asked. 
   
   
 "Nowhere. Aren'T Any!" 
   
   
 "Horses' Then?" 
   
   
 "He'D Never Take Horses.  They'D Die." 
   
   
 "What Are They Riding, Then?" 
   
   
 "Unless He Stole Trained zebras From The Gov'Ment Farm At Naivasha," 
 Said Brown, "An' They'Re Difficulter To Ride 'An A Greasy Pole Up-Ended 
 On A Earthquake, He Must Ha' Bought Mules From The One Man Who Has Any 
 To Sell.  And He Lives T'Other Side O' Nairobi.  There Are None Between 
 There And Here--None Whatever.  Zachariah Korn--Him Who Owns Mules--Is 
 Too Wide Awake To Be Stolen From.  He Bought 'Em, You Take It From Me, 
 And Paid Twice What They Were Worth Into The Bargain." 
   
   
 "Then He Bought Them With Her Money!" Said Will. 
   
   
 "If Not Schillingschen'S," Said I. 
   
   
 "Or The Sultan Of Zanzibar'S" Said Will, "Or The German Government'S." 
   
   
 "But Why?  Why Should She, Or They, Conspire At Great Expense And Risk 
 To Steal Brown'S Cattle?" 
   
   
 "They'Ll Figure," Said Will, "That Brown Is Helping Us, And Therefore, 
 Brown Is An Enemy.  Prob'Ly They Surmise Brown Is In league With Us To 
 Show Us A Short Cut To What We'Re After.  If That'S How They Work It 
 Out, Then They Wouldn'T Need think Much To Conclude That Putting Brown 
 On The Blink Would Hoodoo Us. Maybe They Allow That That Much Bad Luck 
 To Begin With Would Unsettle Brown'S Friendly Feelings For Us. 
 Anyway--Somebody Bought The Mules--Somebody Stole The Cattle--Cattle 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 177 
 Are Somewhere Ahead.  Let'S Hurry Forward And See!" 
   
   
 We Did Hurry, But Made Disgustingly Poor Time.  Once A Dozen Buffalo 
 Stampeded our Tiny Column.  Our Five Porters Dropped their Loads, And 
 The Biggest Old Bull Mistook Our Only Tent For Our Captain'S Dead Body 
 And Proceeded to Play Ball With It, Tossing It And Tearing It To Pieces 
 Until At Last Will Got A Chance For A Shoulder Shot And Drilled him 
 Neatly.  Two Other Bulls Took To Fighting In the Midst Of The 
 Excitement And We Got Both Of Them.  Then The Rest Trotted off;  So We 
 Packed the Horns Of The Dead Ones On The Head Of Our Free Porter (For 
 The Tent He Had Carried was Now Utterly No Use) And Hastened on. 
   
   
 Once, In trying To Make A Cut That Should Have Saved us Ten Or Fifteen 
 Miles Between Two Rivers, We Fell Shoulder-Deep Into A Bog And Only 
 Escaped after An Hour'S Struggle During Which We All But Lost Two 
 Porters.  We Had To Retrace Our Steps And Follow The Greek'S Route, 
 Only To Have The Mortification Of Seeing Fred and Our Column Of 
 Supplies Coming Over The Top Of A Rise Not Eight Miles Behind Us. 
   
   
 Determined not To Be Overtaken By Him A Second Time And Treated to 
 Advice About Nursemaids, We Dispensed with Sleep Altogether For That 
 Night, And Nearly Got Drowned at The Second River. 
   
   
 We Found A Native Who Owned a Thing He Called a Mtungi--A Near-Canoe, 
 Burned out Of A Tree-Trunk.  He Assured us The Ford Was Very Winding 
 (He Drew A Wiggly Finger-Mark In the Mud By Way Of Illustration) But 
 That His Boat Would Hold Twice Our Number, And That Be Could Take Us 
 Over Easily In the Dark.  In fact He Swore He Had Ferried twice Our 
 Number Over On Darker Nights More Than Twenty Or Thirty Times.  He Also 
 Said That He Had Taken The Cattle Over By The Ford Early That Morning, 
 And Then Had Crossed over In the Boat With Two Greeks And A Bwana Goa. 
 He Showed us The Brass Wire And Beads They Gave Him In proof Of That 
 Statement, And We Began To Put Some Faith In his Tale. 
   
   
 So We All Piled into His Crazy Boat With Our Belongings, And Be 
 Promptly Lost The Way Amid The Twelve-Foot Grass-Papyrus Mostly--That 
 Divided the River Into Narrow Streams And Afforded protection To The 
 Most Savagely Hungry Mosquitoes In the World.  Our Faces And Hands Were 
 Wet With Blood In less Than Two Minutes. 
   
   
 Presently, Instead Of Finding Bottom For His Pole, He Pushed us Into 
 Deep Water.  The Grass Disappeared, And A Ripple On The Water Lipping 
 Dangerously Within Three Inches Of Our Uneven Gunwale Proved that We 
 Were More Or Less In the Main Stream.  We Had Enjoyed that Sensation 
 For About A Minute, And Were Headed toward Where We Supposed the 
 Opposite Bank Must Be, When A Hippo In a Hurry To Breathe Blew Just 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 178 
 Beside Us--Saw, Smelt, Or Heard Us (It Was All One To Him)--And Dived 
 Again. 
   
   
 I Suppose In order To Get His Head Down Fast Enough He Shoved his Rump 
 Up, And His Great Fat Back Made A Wave That Ended that Voyage Abruptly. 
  Our Three Inches Of Broadside Vanished.  The Canoe Rocked violently, 
 Filled, Turned over, And Floated wrong Side Up. 
   
   
 "All The Same," Laughed will, Spluttering and Spitting Dirty Water, 
 "Here'S Where The Crocks Get Fooled!  They Don'T Eat Me For Supper!" 
   
   
 He Was First On Top Of The Overturned boat, And Dragged me Up After 
 Him.  Together We Hauled up Brown, Who Could Not Swim But Was 
 Bombastically Furious And Unafraid;  And The Three Of Us Pulled out The 
 Porters And The Fatuous Boat'S Owner.  The Pole Was Floating Near By, 
 And I Swam Down-Stream And Fetched it.  When They Had Dragged me Back 
 On To The Wreck The Moon Came Out, And We Saw The Far Bank Hazily 
 Through Mist And Papyrus. 
   
   
 The Boat Floated far More Steadily Wrong Side Up, Perhaps Because We 
 Had Lashed all Our Loads In place And They Acted as Ballast.  Will Took 
 The Pole And Acted the Part Of Charon, Our Proper Pilot Contenting 
 Himself With Perching On The Rear End Lamenting The Ill-Fortune Noisily 
 Until Kazimoto Struck Him And Threatened to Throw Him Back Into The 
 Water., 
   
   
 "They Don'T Want A Fool Like You In the Other World," He Assured him. 
 "You Will Die Of Old Age!" 
   
   
 The Papyrus Inshore Was High Enough To Screen The Moon From Us, And We 
 Had To Hunt A Passage Through It In pitch Darkness.  Then, Having Found 
 The Muddy Bank At Last (And More Trillions Of Mosquitoes) We Had To 
 Drag The Overturned boat Out High And Dry To Rescue Our Belongings. 
 And That Was Ticklish Work, Because Most Of The Crocodiles, And 
 Practically All The Largest Ones, Spend The Night Alongshore. 
   
   
 Matches Were Wet.  We Had No Means Of Making a Flare To Frighten The 
 Monsters Away.  We Simply Had To "Chance It" As Cheerfully And Swiftly 
 As We Could, And At The End Of A Half-Hour'S Slimy Toil We Carried our 
 Muddied loads To The Nearest High Ground And Settled down There For The 
 Night. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 179 
 It Would Be Mad Exaggeration To Say We Camped.  Wet To The Skin--Dirty 
 To The Verge Of Feeling Suicidal--Bitten By Insects Until The Blood Ran 
 Down From Us--Lost (For We Bad No Notion Where The End Of The Ford 
 Might Be)--At The Mercy Of Any Prowling Beasts That Might Discover Us 
 (For Our Rifle Locks Were Fouled with Mud)--We Sat With Chattering 
 Teeth And Waited for The Morning. 
   
   
 When The Sun Rose We Found A Village Less Than Four Hundred yards Away 
 And Sent The Boys Down To It To Unpack The Loads And Spread Everything 
 In The Sun To Dry, While We Went Down To The River Again And Washed our 
 Rifles.  Then We Dried and Oiled them, And Without A Word Of Bargain Or 
 Explanation, Invaded the Cleanest Looking Hut, Lay Down On The Stamped 
 Clay Floor, And Slept.  It Was Only Clean-Looking, That Hut.  It Housed 
 More Myraids Of Fleas Than The Air Outside Supported "Skeeters"; But We 
 Slept, Unconscious Of Them All. 
   
   
 At Four That Afternoon We Had The Mortification Of Being Roused by 
 Fred'S Voice, And The Dumping Of Loads As His Sixty Porters Dropped 
 Their Burdens Inside The Village Stockade.  He Had Scorned the Ferry 
 And Crossed the Ford On Foot, Making a Prodigious Splash To Keep 
 Crocodiles Away, And Was As Full Of Life And Fun As A Schoolboy On 
 Vacation. 
   
   
 "Wake Up, You Vorloopers!" He Shouted.  "Wake Up!  Shake Off The Fleas 
 And Come, And I'Ll Show You Something." 
   
   
 He Had Already Had The Tale Of Our Night'S Misfortune In detail From 
 The Owner Of The Only Canoe (Who Claimed double Pay On The Ground That 
 We Had Lost No Loads In spite Of Over-Turning.  "The Last Really White 
 Man Who Crossed lost All His Loads!" He Explained.) . 
   
   
 "Come And I'Ll Show You Something You Never Saw Before, You 
 Scouts!--You Advance Guard!--You Line Of Skirmishers!" 
   
   
 Will Hurled a Lump Of Earth At Him, And Chased him To The River, Where 
 They Wrestled, Trying To Throw Each Other In, Until Both Were 
 Breathless.  Then, When Neither Could Make Another Effort: 
   
   
 "Look!" Gasped fred. 
   
   
 There Was An Island In mid-Stream Below Where We Must Have Crossed. 
 The Stream Was Straight, And From Where We Stood We Could See More Than 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 180 
 Half A Mile Of Alluvial Mud With An Arm Of The River On Either Side. 
 The Mud Was White, Not Black--So White That It Dazzled the Eyes To Look 
 At It. 
   
   
 "Know What It Is?" Fred panted. 
   
   
 We Did Not Know, And It Was No Use Guessing.  It Looked like Burned 
 Lime, Or Else The Secretions Of About A Billion Birds; And There Were 
 No Birds To Speak Of. 
   
   
 "Crocodile Eggs!" Said Fred. 
   
   
 We Did Not Believe That.  Even Brown Did Not Believe It.  There Was No 
 Time To Spare, But Brown Out Of Curiosity Agreed, So We Took The Absurd 
 Canoe And Poled down To Investigate.  As We Came Nearer The Solid White 
 Broke Up Into A Myriad Dots, And Fred'S Tale Stood Confirmed. 
   
   
 They Were As Long As Two Hens' Eggs Laid End To End, Or Longer.  They 
 Lay In the Sun In batches In every Stage Of Incubation, And From Almost 
 Every Batch There Were Little Crocodiles Emerging, That Made Straight 
 For The Water.  What Worse Monster Preyed on Them To Keep Their Numbers 
 Down, Or What Disease Took Care Of Their Prolixity We Could Not Guess. 
 Perhaps They Ate One Another, Or Just Died of Hunger.  The Owner Of The 
 Boat Vowed there Were No Fish Left In the River, And That The 
 Crocodiles Did Not Eat Hippo Unless It Were First Dead. 
   
   
 We Took Another Tent From Among Fred'S Loads, Changed two Of Our 
 Porters For Stronger Ones, And Went Forward That Evening;  For It Began 
 To Be Obvious That The Speed had Been Telling On The Cattle.  We Passed 
 Two More Dead Heifers Within A Few Miles Of The River Bank, And There 
 Were Other Signs That For All Our Long Sleep We Were Gaining On Them. 
   
   
 Perhaps The Greeks Thought They Had Shaken Off Pursuit.  Judging By The 
 Compass They Were Headed for The Shore Of Victoria Nyanza, Where The 
 Grazing Would Be Better, Food For Men Would Be Purchaseable, And The 
 Number Of Villages Closely Spaced would Make The Task Of Night-Herding 
 Vastly Easier.  There Isn'T A Village In that Part Of Africa That Is 
 Not Proud To Be A Host To Anybody'S Cattle, If Only Because The 
 Ownership Of So Much Living Wealth Casts Glory On All Who Come In 
 Contact With It. 
   
   
 There Was No Means Of Telling Whether Or Not We Were Over The German 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 181 
 Border.  The Boundary Line Had Not Been Surveyed yet, And On The Map 
 The Part Where We Were Was Set Down As "Unexplored," Although That Was 
 Scarcely Accurate;  The Route Was Well Enough Known To Greeks And 
 Arabs, And Other Had Characters Bent On Smuggling Or In some Other Way 
 Defeating The Ends Of Justice. 
   
   
 We Marched that Night Until Midnight, Slept Until Dawn, And Were Off 
 Again.  At Noon We Reached rising Ground, And Kazimoto Ran Ahead Of Us 
 To The Summit.  We Saw Him Standing at Gaze For Three Or Four Minutes 
 With One Hand Shading His Eyes Before He Came Scampering Back, As 
 Excited as If His Own Fortune Were In the Balance. 
   
   
 "Hooko-Chini!" He Shouted. "Hooko-Chini--Mba-A-A-Li Sana!"--(They'Re 
 Down Below There, Very Far Away!) 
   
   
 We Hurried up-Hill, But For Many Minutes Could See Nothing Except A 
 Plain Of Waving Grass Higher Than A Man'S Head And Almost As 
 Impenetrable As Bamboo-Country That Carried small Hope In it For Man Or 
 Beast, That Would Be A Holocaust In the Dry Season When The Heat Set 
 Fire To The Grass, And Was An Insect-Haunted marsh At Most Other Times. 
  However, Path Across It There Must Be, For The Greeks Had Driven 
 Brown'S Cattle That Way That Very Morning, And Kazimoto Swore He Could 
 See Them In the Distance, Although Brown, And Will, And I--All Three 
 Keen-Sighted--Could See Nothing Whatever But Immeasurable, Worthless 
 Waving Grass. 
   
   
 At Last I Detected a Movement Near The Horizon That Did Not Synchronize 
 With The Wind-Blown Motion Of The Rest.  I Pointed it Out To The 
 Others, And After A Few Minutes We Agreed that It Moved against The 
 Wind. 
   
   
 "They'Re Hurrying again," Said Brown, Peering Under Both Hands. 
 "There'S No Feed for Cattle On All This Plain.  They'Re Racing To Get 
 To Short Grass Before The Cattle All Die.  Come On--Let'S Hurry After 
 'Em!" 
   
   
 For The Second Time On That Trip We Essayed a Short Cut, Making as 
 Straight As A Bee Would Fly For The Point On The Horizon Where We Knew 
 The Greeks To Be.  And For The Second Time We Fell Into A Bog, Nearly 
 Losing Our Lives In it.  We Had To Pull One Another Out, Using Even Our 
 Precious Rifles As Supports In the Yielding Mud, And Then Spending 
 Equally Precious Time In cleaning Locks And Sights Again. 
   
   
 After That We Hunted for The Cattle Trail And Followed that Closely; 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 182 
 And That Was Not So Easy As It Reads, Because The Trampled grass Had 
 Risen Again, And Cattle And Mounted men Can Cross Easily Ground That 
 Delays Men On Foot. 
   
   
 The Heat Was That Of An Oven.  The Water--What There Was Of It In the 
 Holes And Swampy Places--Stank, And Tasted acrid.  The Flies Seemed to 
 Greet Us As Their Only Prospect Of Food That Year.  The Monotony Of 
 Hurrying Through Grass-Stems That Cut Off All View And Only Showed the 
 Sky Through A Waving Curtain Overhead Was More Nerve-Trying Than The 
 Physical Weariness And Thirst. 
   
   
 We Slept A Night In that Grass, Burning Some Of It For A Smudge To Keep 
 Mosquitoes At Bay, And An Hour After Dawn, Reaching Rising Ground 
 Again, Realized that We Had Our Quarry Within Reach At Last. 
   
   
 They Were Out In the Open On Short Good Grazing.  The Greeks' Tent Was 
 Pitched.  We Could See Their Mules, Like Brown Insects, Tied under A 
 Tree, And The Cattle Dotted here And There, Some Lying Down, Some 
 Feeding. 
   
   
 "At Last!" Said Brown.  "Boys, They'Re Our Meat!  There'S A Tree To 
 Hang The Greeks And The Goa To!  When We'Ve Done That, If You'Ll All 
 Come Back With Me I'Ll Send To Nairobi For An Extra Jar Of Irish 
 Whisky, And We'Ll Have A Spree At Lumbwa That'Ll Make The Fall Of Rome 
 Sound Like A Sunday-School Picnic!  We'Re In german Territory Now, All 
 Right.  There'S Not A White Man For A Hundred miles In any 
 Direction--Except Your Friend That'S Coming along Behind.  There'S 
 Nobody To Carry Tales Or Prevent!  I'M No Savage.  I'M No Degenerate. 
 I Don'T Hold With Too Much Of Anything, But--" 
   
   
 "There'Ll Be No Dirty Work, If That'S What You Mean," Said Will Quietly. 
   
   
 Brown Stared hard At Him. 
   
   
 "D'You Mean You'Ll Object To Hanging 'Em?" 
   
   
 "Not In the Least.  We Hang Or Shoot Cattle Thieves In the States.  I 
 Said There'Ll Be No Dirty Work, That'S All." 
   
   
 "Shall We Rest A While, And Come On Them Fresh In the Morning?" I 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 183 
 Proposed. 
   
   
 "Forward!" Snorted brown.  "Why D'You Want To Wait?" 
   
   
 "Forward It Is!" Agreed will.  "When We Get A Bit Closer We'Ll Stop And 
 Hold Council Of War." 
   
   
 "One Minute!" Said I.  "Tell Me What That Is?" 
   
   
 I Had Been Searching The Whole Countryside, Looking For Some Means Of 
 Stealing On The Marauders Unawares And Finding None.  They Had Chosen 
 Their Camping Place Very Wisely From The Point Of View Of Men Unwilling 
 To Be Taken By Surprise.  Far Away Over To Our Right, Appearing and 
 Disappearing as I Watched them, Were A Number Of Tiny Black Dots In 
 Sort Of Wide Half-Moon Formation, And A Larger Number Of Rather Larger 
 Dots Contained within The Semicircle. 
   
   
 "Cattle!" Exploded brown. 
   
   
 "And Men!" Added will. 
   
   
 "Black Men!" Said I. "Black Men With Spears!" 
   
   
 "Masai!" Said Kazimoto Excitedly.  He Had Far The Keenest Eyes Of All 
 Of Us. 
   
   
 We Were Silent For Several Minutes.  The Veriest Stranger In that Land 
 Knows About The Feats And Bravery Of The Masai, Who Alone Of All Tribes 
 Did Not Fear The Arabs, And Who Terrorized a Quarter Of A Continent 
 Before The British Came And Broke Their Power. 
   
   
 "Mbaia Cabisa!" Muttered kazimoto, Meaning That The Development Was 
 Very Bad Indeed.  And He Had Right To Know 
   
   
 He Explained it Was A Raid.  The Masai, In accordance With Time-Honored 
 Custom, Had Come From British East To Raid The Lake-Shore Villages Of 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 184 
 German Territory, And Were Driving Back The Plundered cattle.  None Can 
 Drive Cattle As Masai Can.  They Can Take Leg-Weary Beasts By The Tail 
 And Make Them Gallop, One Beast Encouraging The Next Until They All Go 
 Like The Wind.  For Food They Drink Hot Blood, Opening a Vein In a 
 Beast'S Neck And Closing It Again When They Have Had Their Fill.  Their 
 Only Luggage Is A Spear.  Their Only Speed-Limit The Maximum The Cattle 
 Can Be Stung To.  On A Raid Three Hundred and Sixty Miles In six Days 
 Is An Ordinary Rate Of Traveling. 
   
   
 Just Now They Did Not Seem In much Hurry.  They Had Probably Butchered 
 The Fighting Men Of All The Villages In their Rear, And Were Well 
 Informed as To The Disposition Of The Nearest German Forces.  There 
 Were Probably No Germans Within A Hundred miles.  There Was No 
 Telegraph In all Those Parts.  To Notify Muanza By Runner And Bagamoyo 
 On The Coast From There By Wire Would Take Several Days. Then Bagamoyo 
 Would Have To Wire The Station At Kilimanjaro, And There Was No Earthly 
 Chance Of Germans Intercepting Them Before They Could Reach British 
 East. 
    
   
 Nor Was There Any Treaty Provision Between British And German Colonial 
 Governments For Handing Over Raiders.  The Germans Had Refused to Make 
 Any Such Agreement For Reasons Best Known To Themselves.  The Fact That 
 They Were Far The Heaviest Losers By The Lack Of Reciprocal Police 
 Arrangements Was Due To The Fact That Most Of The Masai Lived in 
 British East.  The Masai Would Have Raided across Either Border With 
 Supreme Indifference. 
   
   
 "Masai Not Talking.  Masai Using Spear And Kill!" Remarked kazimoto. 
   
   
 "One Good Thing Our Gov'Ment'S Done," Said Brown.  "Just One.  It Has 
 Kept Those Rascals From Owning Rifles!  But Lordy!  They'Ve Got Spears 
 That Give A Man The Creeps To See!" 
   
   
 He Began Looking To His Rifle.  So Did Will And I. 
   
   
 "Now This Here Is My Fight," He Explained.  "Them'S My Cattle.  They'Re 
 All The Wealth I Own In the World.  If I Lose 'Em I'M Minded to Die 
 Anyhow.  There'S Nothing In life For A Drunkard Like Me With All His 
 Money Gone And Nothing To Do But Take A Mean White'S Job.  You Chaps 
 Just Wait Here And Watch While I 'Tend To My Own Affairs." 
   
   
 "Exactly!" Will Answered dryly. "I'Ve A Hundred rounds In my Pockets. 
 That Ought To Be Enough." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 185 
 While We Made Ready, Leaving Our Loads And Porters In a Safe Place And 
 Giving The Boys Orders, I Saw Two Things Happen.  First, The Masai 
 Became Aware Of The Little Greek Encampment And The Two Hundred head Of 
 Cattle Waiting at Their Mercy;  And Second, The Greeks Grew Aware Of 
 The Masai. 
   
   
 The Greeks Had Boys With Them;  I Saw At Least Half A Dozen Go 
 Scattering To Round Up The Cattle.  The Tents Began To Come Down, And I 
 Saw Three Figures That Might Be The Greeks And The Goanese Holding a 
 Consultation Near The Tree. 
   
   
 "And Now," Remarked will, "I Begin To See The Humor In this Comedy. 
 Which Are We--Allies Of The Greeks Or Of The Masai?  Are We To Help The 
 Greeks Get Away With Brown'S Cattle, Or Help The Masai Steal 'Em From 
 The Greeks?  Are Your Cattle All Branded, Brown?" 
   
   
 "You Blooming Well Bet They Are!" 
   
   
 "Masai Know Enough To Alter A Brand?" 
   
   
 "Never Heard O' Their Doing It." 
   
   
 "Then If The Masai Get Away With Them To British East, If You Can Find 
 'Em You Can Claim 'Em, Eh?" 
   
   
 "Claim 'Em In court Wi' The Whole Blooming Tribe O' Masai--More'N A 
 Quarter Of A Million Of 'Em--All On Hand To Swear They Bought 'Em From 
 Me;  An' The British Gov'Ment Takin' Sides With The Black Men, As It 
 Always Does?  Oh, Yes!  It Sounds Easy, That Does!" 
   
   
 "But If The Greeks Get Away With 'Em," Argued will, "You'Ve No Chance 
 Of Recovering at All." 
   
   
 "I'Ll Not Take Sides With Masai--Even Against Greeks!" Brown Answered 
 Grimly, And Will Laughed. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 186 
 "If We Attack The Greeks First," I Said, "Perhaps They'Ll Run.  We'Re 
 Nearer To Them Than The Masai Are.  The Masai, Will Have To Corral 
 Their Own Cattle Before They Can Leave Them To Raid A New Lot.  We Can 
 Open Fire At Long Range Begin With.  If That Scares The Greeks Away, 
 Then We Can, Round Up Brown'S Cattle And Drive Them Back Northward.  We 
 May Possibly Escape With Them Too Quickly For The Masai To Think It 
 Worth While To Follow." 
   
   
 Brown Laughed cynically. 
   
   
 "We Can Try It," He Said. "An' If The Greeks Don'T Run Pretty Quick 
 They'Ll Never Run Again--I'Ll Warrant That!" 
   
   
 Nobody Had A Better Plan To Propose, So We Emptied our Pockets Of All 
 But Fifty Rounds Of Ammunition Each, And Gave The Rest To Kazimoto To 
 Carry, With Orders To Keep In hiding and Watch, And Run With Cartridges 
 To Whoever Should First Need them. 
   
   
 Then, Because Instead Of Corraling Their Cattle The Masai Were Already 
 Dividing Themselves Into Two Parties, One Of Which Drove The Cattle 
 Forward And The Other Diverged to Study The Attack, We Ducked down 
 Under A Ridge And Ran Toward The Greeks.  The Sooner We Could Get The 
 First Stage Of The Fighting Off Our Hands The Better. 
   
   
 It Proved a Long Way--Far Longer Than I Expected, And The Going Was 
 Rougher.  Moreover, The Greeks' Boys Were Losing No Time About Rounding 
 Up The Cattle.  By The Time They Were Ready To Make A Move We Were 
 Still More Than A Mile Away, And Out Of Breath. 
   
   
 "If They Go South," Panted brown, Throwing Himself Down By A Clump Of 
 Grass To Gasp For His Third Or Fourth Wind, "The Masai'Ll Catch 'Em 
 Sure, An' We'Ll Be Out O' The Running!  Lord Send They Head 'Em Back 
 Toward British East!" 
   
   
 He Was In much The Worst Physical Condition Because Of The Whisky, But 
 His Wits Were Working Well Enough.  The Greeks On The Other Hand Seemed 
 Undecided and Appeared to Be Arguing.  Then Brown'S Prayer Was 
 Answered.  The Greeks' Boys Decided the Matter For Them By Stampeding 
 The Herd Northward Toward Us.  They Did Not Come Fast.  They Were Lame, 
 And Bone-Weary From Hard Driving, But They Knew The Way Home Again And 
 Made A Bee Line.  Within A Minute They Were Spread Fan-Wise Between Us 
 And The Greeks, Making a Screen We Could Not Shoot Through. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 187 
 "Scatter To Right And Left!" Brown Shouted.  "Get Round The Wings!" 
   
   
 But What Was The Use?  He Was In the Center, And Short-Winded.  I 
 Climbed on An Ant-Hill. 
   
   
 "The Greeks Are On The Run!" I Said.  "They Are Headed southward! 
 They'Ve Got Their Boys Together, And Have Abandoned the Cattle! 
 They'Re Off With Their Tent And Belongings Due South!" 
   
   
 "The Cowards!" Swore Brown, With Such Disappointment That Will And I 
 Laughed. 
   
   
 "Laugh All You Like!" He Said.  "I'Ve A Long Job On My Hands!  I'Ll 
 Have Revenge On 'Em If It Takes The Rest O' My Life!  I'Ll Follow 'Em 
 To Hell-And-Gone!" 
   
   
 "Meanwhile," I Said, Still Standing On The Ant-Hill, "The Masai Are 
 Following The Cattle!  They'Re Smoking This Way In two Single Columns 
 Of About Twenty Spears In each.  The Remainder Are Driving Their Own 
 Cattle About Due Eastward So As To Be Out Of The Way Of Trouble." 
   
   
 "All Right," Said Brown, Growing Suddenly Cheerful Again.  "Then It'Ll 
 Be A Rear-Guard Action.  Let The Cattle Through, And Open Fire Behind 
 'Em!  Send That Kazimoto O' Yours To Warn Our Boys To Round 'Em Up And 
 Drive 'Em Slow And Steady Northward!" 
   
   
 Kazimoto Ran Back And Gave The Necessary Orders.  He Lost No Time About 
 It, But Returned panting, And Lay Down In a Hollow Behind Us With 
 Cartridges In either Fist And A Grin On His Face That Would Have Done 
 Credit To A Circus Clown.  I Never, Anywhere, Saw Any One More Pleased 
 Than Kazimoto At The Prospect Of A Fight. 
   
   
 We Let The Cattle Through And Lay Hidden, Waiting For The Raiders. 
 They Were In full War Dress, Which Is To Say As Nearly Naked as 
 Possible Except For Their Spears, A Leg Ornament Made From The Hair Of 
 The Colobus Monkey, A Leather Apron Hung On Just As Suited the 
 Individual Wearer'S Fancy, A Great Shield, And An Enormous 
 Ostrich-Feather Head-Dress.  They Seemed in no Hurry, For They Probably 
 Guessed that The Cattle Would Stop To Graze Again When The First Scare 
 Was Over;  Yet They Came Along As Smoke Comes, Swiftly And Easily, 
 Making No Noise. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 188 
 Suddenly Those In the Lead Caught Sight Of Our Boys Getting Behind The 
 Cattle To Herd Them Northward.  They Halted to Hold 
 Consultation--Apparently Decided that They Had Only Unarmed natives To 
 Deal With--And Came On Again, Faster Than Before. 
   
   
 "Better Open Fire Now!" Said Brown, When They Were Still A Quarter Of A 
 Mile Away. 
   
   
 "Wait Till You Can See Their Eyes!" Will Advised.  "An Unexpected 
 Volley At Close Quarters Will Do More Havoc Than Hours Of Long-Range 
 Shooting. 
   
   
 "This Ain'T A Long Range!" Brown Objected.  "As For Unexpected--Just 
 Watch Me Startle 'Em!  My Sight'S Fixed at Four Hundred.  Watch!" 
   
   
 He Fired--We Wished he Had Not.  The Leading Masai Of The Right-Hand 
 Column Jerked his Head Sidewise As The Whistling Bullet Passed, And 
 Then There Was Nothing For It But To Follow His Lead And Blaze Away For 
 All We Were Worth.  If Brown Had Been Willing To Accept Will'S Advice 
 There Is Nothing More Likely Than That The Close-Quarter Surprise Would 
 Have Won The Day For Us.  We Would Have Done Much More Execution With 
 Three Volleys At Ten-Yard Range.  As It Was, We All Missed with Our 
 Finest Shots, And The Masai Took Heart And Charged in open Order. 
    
   
 The Worst Of It Was That, Although We Dropped several Of Them, Now The 
 Others Had A Chance To Discover There Were Only Three Of Us.  Their 
 Leader Shouted.  The Right-Hand Column Continued to Attack, But Changed 
 Its Tactics.  The Left-Hand Party Made A Circuit At Top Speed, 
 Outflanked us, And Pursued the Cattle. 
   
   
 Supposing My Count Was Right, We Had Laid Out, Either Wounded or Dead, 
 Seven Of The Crowd Attacking Us.  This Left Perhaps Fourteen Against 
 Us, To Be Dealt With Before The Others Could Come Back With The Cattle 
 And Take Us In the Rear. 
   
   
 Will Brought Another Man Down;  I Saw The Blood Splash On His Forehead 
 As The Bullet Drilled the Skull Cleanly.  Then One Man Shouted and They 
 All Lay Prone, Beginning To Crawl Toward Us With Their Shields Held 
 Before, Not As Protection Against Bullets (For As That They Were 
 Utterly Worthless) But As Cover That Made Their Exact Position Merest 
 Guesswork. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 189 
 I Fell Back And Took Position On The Ant-Hill From Which I Had First 
 Seen Them, Thus Making Our Position Triangular And Giving Myself A 
 Chance To Protect The Other Two Should They Feel Forced to Retire.  The 
 Extra Height Also Gave Me A Distinct Advantage, For I Could See The 
 Legs Of The Masai Over The Tops Of Their Shields, And Was Able To Wound 
 More Than One Of Them So Severely That They Crawled to The Rear. 
   
   
 But The Rest Came On.  Kazimoto Began To Be Busy Supplying Cartridges. 
 In That First Real Pinch We Were In he Certainly Lived up To All 
 Courtney Had Said Of Him, For Without The Stimulus Of His Proper 
 Master'S Eye He Neither Flinched nor Faltered, But Crawled from One To 
 The Other, Dividing The Spare Rounds Equally. 
   
   
 The Masai Began To Attempt To Outflank Us, But My Position On The 
 Ant-Hill To The Rear Made That Impossible;  They Found Themselves Faced 
 By A Side Of The Triangle From Whichever Side They Attacked.  But In 
 Turning To Keep An Eye On The Flank I Became Aware Of A Greater Danger. 
  The Cattle Were Coming Back.  That Meant That The Other Masai Were 
 Coming, Too, And That In a Few Moments We Were Likely To Be 
 Overwhelmed.  I Shouted to Will And Brown, But Either They Did Not Hear 
 Me, Or Did Not Have Time To Answer. 
   
   
 I Fired half A Dozen Shots, And Then Distinctly Heard The Crack Of A 
 Rifle From Beyond The Cattle.  That Gave Matters The Worst Turn Yet. 
 If One Of The Raiders Had A Rifle, Then Unless I Could Spot Him At Once 
 And Put Him Out Of Action Our Cause Was Likely Lost.  I Stood Up To 
 Look For Him And Heard A Wild Cheer, Followed by Three More Shots In 
 Quick Succession.  Then At Last I Saw Fred oakes Running along A 
 Depression In the Ground, Followed at A Considerable Distance By The 
 Advance-Guard Of His Porters.  He Was Running, And Then Kneeling To 
 Fire--Running, And Kneeling again.  And He Was Not Wasting ammunition. 
 He Was Much The Best Shot Of Us All, Now That Monty Was Absent. 
   
   
 The Terrified cattle Stampeded past Us, Too Wild To Be Cheeked by Any 
 Noise.  Seeing Them, And Sure Now Of Their Booty, The Party Attacking 
 Us Hauled off And Took To Their Heels.  Will And Brown Were For 
 Speeding Them With Bullets In the Rear, But I Yelled again, And This 
 Time Made Myself Heard.  Those Who Had Got Behind The Cattle And Were 
 Driving Them Were Coming On With Spears And Shields Raised to Slay Us 
 In Passing.  The Other Two Joined me, And We Stood On The Ant-Hill 
 Three Abreast.  They Charged us--Seven Or Eight Of Them.  Three Bit The 
 Dust, But The Rest Came On, And If It Had Not Been For Two Swift Shots 
 From Fred'S Rifle In the Very Nick Of Time We Should Have All Been Dead 
 Men. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 190 
 As It Was, One Seized me By The Knees And We Went Over Together, 
 Rolling Down The Ant-Hill, He Slashing at Me With His Great 
 Broad-Bladed spear, I Ahold Of His Wrist With One Hand, And With The 
 Other Fist Belaboring Him In the Face.  He Was Stronger Than 
 I--Greasier--Sweatier--Harder To Hold.  He Slipped from Under Me, 
 Rolled on Top, Wrenched his Wrist Free, And In another Second Grinned 
 In My Face As, With Both Knees In my Stomach, Be Raised the Spear To 
 Kill.  I Shut My Eyes.  I Had Not Another Breath Left, Nor An Effort In 
 Me, I Thought I Would Deny Him The Pleasure Of Watching My Death Agony. 
  But I Could Not Keep My Eyes Shut.  Opening Them To See Why He Did Not 
 Strike, I Saw Kazimoto With My Rifle In both Hands Swing For His Skull 
 With The Full Weight Of The Butt And All His Strength.  Kazimoto 
 Grunted.  The Masai Half Turned his Head At The Sound.  The Butt Hit 
 Home--Broke Off--And My Face And Breast Were Deluged with Blood And 
 Brains. 
   
   
 When I Had Wiped off That Mess With Kazimoto'S Help I Saw Fred and Will 
 And Brown Pursuing The Retreating Masai, Kneeling To Shoot Every Few 
 Yards, At Every Other Shot Or So Bringing Down A Victim, But Being 
 Rapidly Out-Distanced.  Cattle Are All The Masai Care About.  They Had 
 The Cattle.  They Had Hold Of Tails And Were Making The Whole Herd 
 Scamper Due East, Where They No Doubt Knew Of A Trail Not In maps. 
 They Made No Attempt To Defend Themselves--Left Their Dead Lying--And 
 Ran.  I Saw Two Or Three Wounded ones Riding On Cows, And No Doubt Some 
 Of Those Who Ran Holding To The Cows' Tails Were Wounded, Too. 
   
   
 I Was Useless Now, As Far As Fighting Was Concerned, For The Butt Of My 
 Rifle Was Broken Clean Off At The Grip, But I Ran On, And Heard Brown 
 Shout: 
 "Shoot Cattle!  Don'T Let The Brutes Get Away With Them All!" 
   
   
 He Was Shooting Cows Himself When I Came Up, But It Was Fred who 
 Stopped him. 
   
   
 "Never Mind That, Old Man.  We'Ll Follow 'Em Up!  Our Time'S Our Own. 
 We'Ll Get Your Cattle Back, Never Fear.  Dead Ones Are No Use." 
   
   
 Brown Stopped shooting and Began To Blubber.  Whisky Had Not Left Him 
 Manhood Enough To See His Whole Available Resources Carried away Before 
 His Eyes, And He Broke Down As Utterly As Any Child.  It Was Neither 
 Agreeable Nor Decent To Watch, And I Turned away.  I Was Feeling Sick 
 Myself From The Pressure Of The Masai'S Knees In my Stomach.  That, And 
 The Sun, And The Long March, And Hunger (For We Had Not Stopped to Eat 
 A Meal That Day) Combined in argument, And I Hunted about For A Soft 
 Place And A Little Shade.  It Happened that Fred oakes Was Watching Me, 
 Although I Did Not Know It.  He Suspected sunstroke. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 191 
 I Saw A Clump Of Rushes That Gave Shade Enough.  I Could Crush Down 
 Some, And Lie On Those.  I Hurried, For I Was Feeling Deathly Sick Now. 
  As I Reached the Grass My Knees Began Giving Under Me.  I Staggered, 
 But Did Not Quite Fall. 
   
   
 That, And Fred'S Watchfulness, Saved my Life;  For At The Moment That 
 My Head And Shoulders Gave The Sudden Forward Lurch, A Wounded masai 
 Jumped out Of The Rushes And Drove With His Spear At My Breast.  The 
 Blade Passed down My Back And Split My Jacket. 
   
   
 He Sprang Back, And Made Another Lunge At Me, But Fred'S Rifle Barked 
 At The Same Second And He Fell Over Sidewise, Driving The Spear Into My 
 Leg In his Death Spasm. 
   
   
 The Twenty Minutes Following That Are The Worst In memory.  Kazimoto 
 Broke The Gruesome News That The Spear-Blade Was Almost Surely 
 Poisoned--Dipped in gangrene.  The Masai Are No Believers In wounded 
 Enemies, Or Mercy On The Battlefield. 
   
   
 We Doubted the Assertion For A While--I Especially, For None But A 
 Hypochondriac Would Care To Admit Without Proof That Gangrene Had Been 
 Forced into His System.  Kazimoto Grew Indignant, And Offered to Prove 
 The Truth Of His Claim On Some Animal.  But There Was No Living animal 
 In Sight On Which To Prove It.  We Asked him How Long Gangrene, 
 Injected in that Way, Took To Kill A Man. 
   
   
 "Very Few Minutes!" He Answered. 
   
   
 Then It Occurred that None Of Us Knew What To Do.  Kazimoto Announced 
 That He Knew, And Offered to Make Good At Once If Given Permission.  He 
 Demanded permission Again And Again From Each One Of Us, Making Me 
 Especially Repeat My Words.  Then Be Gathered stems Of Grass A Third Of 
 An Inch Thick From The Bed of The Tiny Watercourse, And Proceeded to 
 Make A Tiny Fire, Talking In a Hurry As He Did It To Several Of Fred'S 
 String Of Porters, Who Were Now Arriving On The Scene. 
   
   
 While I Watched with A Sort Of Tortured interest What He Was Doing at 
 The Fire, Five Of The Largest Boys With Whom Be Had Been Speaking 
 Rushed me From Behind, And Before I Could Struggle, Or Even Swear, Had 
 Me Pinned out On My Back On The Ground.  One Sat On My Head;  One On My 
 Poor Bruised stomach;  The Others Held Wrists And Ankles In such Way 
 That I Could Not Break Free, Nor Even Kick Much, However Hard I Tried. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 192 
 Then Kazimoto Came With Glowing Ends Of Grass From The Fire, Blowing On 
 Them To Keep Them Cherry-Red, And Inserted one After Another Into The 
 Open Spear-Wound.  I Could Not Cry Out, Because Of The Man Sitting On 
 My Face, But I Could Bite.  And To The Everlasting Glory Of The 
 Man--Ali Bin Yema, His Name Was--Be It Written That He Neither Spoke 
 Nor Moved a Muscle, Although My Front Teeth Met In his Flesh. 
   
   
 I Do Not Know How Long The Process Lasted, Or How Many Times Kazimoto 
 Returned to The Fire For More Of His Sizzling Sticks, For I Fainted; 
 And When I Came Round The Agony Was Still Too Intense To Permit 
 Interest In anything But Agony.  They Had My Leg Bandaged, How And With 
 What I Neither Knew Nor Cared.  And It Was Evident That Unless They 
 Chose To Leave Me In camp Where I Was They Would Have To Abandon All 
 Thought Of Pursuing Masai For The Present.  Even Brown Saw The Force Of 
 That, And He Was The First To Refuse Flatly To Leave Me There. 
   
   
 For A While They Hunted through The Grass For More Wounded men, But 
 Found None.  There Must Have Been Several, But They Probably Feared the 
 Sort Of Mercy From Us That They Habitually Gave To Their Own Enemies, 
 And Crawled away--In All Likelihood To Die Of Thirst And Hunger, Unless 
 Some Beast Of Prey Should Smell Them Out And Make An Earlier End. 
   
   
 Then There Was Consultation.  It Was Decided a Doctor For Me Was The 
 Most Urgent Need;  That Muanza, The Largest German Station On Victoria 
 Nyanza, Was Probably As Near As Anywhere, And That German East Being 
 Our Immediate Destination Anyway, The Best Course To Take Was Forward, 
 Roughly South By West.  So I Was Slung In a Blanket On A Tent-Pole, And 
 We Started, I Swearing Like A Pirate Every Time A Boy Stumbled and 
 Jolted me.  (There Is Something In the Nature Of A Burn That Makes Bad 
 Language Feel Like Singing Hymns.) 
   
   
 Our Troubles Were Not All Over, For We Passed through A Country Where 
 Buck Were Fairly Plentiful, And That Meant Lions.  They Did No Damage, 
 But They Kept Us Awake;  And One Night Near The First Village We Came 
 To, Where Our Porters All Quartered themselves With The Villagers For 
 Sake Of The Change From Their Crowded tents, The Fires That We Made 
 Went Out, And Five Lions (We Counted their Foot-Prints Afterward) Came 
 And Sniffed around The Pegs Of The Tent In which Fred and I Lay, We 
 Lying Still And Shamming Dead.  To Have Lifted a Rifle In the Darkness 
 And Tried to Shoot Would Have Been Suicide. 
   
   
 Then There Were Trees We Passed among--Baobabs, Whose Youngest Tendrils 
 Swung To And Fro In the Evening Breeze Like Snakes Head-Downward.  And 
 Taking advantage Of That Natural Provision, Twenty-Foot Pythons Swung 
 Among Them, In coloring and Marking aping The Habit Of The Tree.  One 
 Of Them Knocked fred'S Helmet Off As He Marched beside Me.  They Are 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 193 
 Easy To Kill.  He Shot It, And It Dropped like A Stone, Three Hundred 
 Pounds Or More, But The Sweat Ran Down Fred'S Face For Half An Hour 
 Afterward. 
   
   
 (Since Then I Have Seen Pythons Kill Their Prey A Score Of Times.  I 
 Never Once Saw One Kill By Crushing.  The End Of Their Nose Is As Hard 
 As Iron, And They Strike A Terrific Blow With That, So Swift That The 
 Eye Can Not Follow It.  Then, Having Killed by Striking, They Crawl 
 Around Their Prey And Crush It Into Shape For Swallowing.) 
   
   
 But The Worst Of The Journey Was The Wayside Villages--Dirty Beyond 
 Belief, Governed in a Crude Way By A Headman Whom The Germans Honored 
 With The Title Of Sultani.  These Wayside Beggars (For They Were No 
 Better)--Destitute Paupers, Taxed until Their Wits Failed them In the 
 Effort To Scrape Together Surplus Enough Out Of Which To Pay--Were 
 Supplied with A Mockery Of A Crown Apiece, A Thing Of Brass And 
 Imitation Plush That They Wore In the Presence Of Strangers.  To Add To 
 The Irony Of That, The Law Of The Land Permitted any White Man Passing 
 Through To Beat Them, With As Many As Twenty-Five Lashes, If They 
 Failed to Do His Bidding. 
   
   
 On Arriving at Such A Village, The First Thing We Did Was To Ask For 
 Milk.  If They Had Any They Brought It, Not Daring To Refuse For Fear 
 Lest A German Sergeant-Major Should Be Sent Along To Wreak Vengeance 
 Later.  But It Was Always Too Dirty To Drink. 
   
   
 That Ceremony Over, The Headman Retired and The Village Sick Were 
 Brought For Our Inspection.  Gruesome Sores, Running Ulcers, Wounds And 
 Crippled limbs Were Stripped and Exposed to Our Most Reluctant Gaze. 
 There Was Little We Could Do For Them.  Our Own Supply Of Medicines And 
 Bandages Was Almost Too Small For Our Own Needs To Begin With.  By The 
 Time We Passed three Villages We Scarcely Had Enough Lint And Liniment 
 Left To Take Care Of My Wound;  But Even That Scant Supply We Cut In 
 Half For A Particularly Bad Case. 
   
   
 "Don'T The Germans Do Anything For You?" We Demanded, Over And Over 
 Again. 
   
   
 The Answer Was Always The Same. 
   
   
 "Germani Mbaia!" (The Germans Are Bad!) 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 6 (The Song Of The Great Game Reserve) Pg 194 
 They Were Lifeless--Listless--Tamed until Neither Ambition Nor Courage 
 Was Left.  When Their Cattle Had Brought Forth Young And It Looked as 
 If There Might Be Some Profit At Last, The Masai Came And Raided them, 
 Taking away All But The Very Old Ones And The Youngest Calves.  The 
 Germans, They Said, Taxed them And Took Their Weapons Away, But Gave 
 Them No Protection. 
   
   
 At One Place We Passed a Rifle, Lying all Rusted by The Track.  At The 
 Next Village We Asked about It.  They Told Us That A German Native 
 Soldier Had Deserted six Months Before And Had Thrown His Rifle Away. 
 Since That Day No One Had Dared touch It, And They Begged us To Send 
 Back And Lay It Where We Found It, Lest The Germans Come And Punish 
 Them For Touching It.  So We Did That, To Oblige Them, And They Were 
 Grateful To The Extent Of Offering Us One Of Their Only Two Male Sheep. 
   
   
 I Forget Now For How Many Days We Traveled across That Sad And 
 Saddening Land, Fred always Cheerful In spite Of Everything, Will More 
 Angry At Each Village With Its Dirt And Sores, Brown Moaning always 
 About His Lovely Herd Of Cows, And I Groaning Oftener Than Not. 
   
   
 My Leg Grew No Better, What With Jolting and Our Ignorance Of How To 
 Treat It.  Sometimes, In efforts To Obtain Relief, I Borrowed a Cow At 
 One Village And Rode It To The Next;  But A Cow Is A Poor Mount And 
 Takes As A Rule Unkindly To The Business.  Now And Then I Tried to Walk 
 For A While, On Crutches That Fred made For Me;  But Most Of The Time I 
 Was Carried in a Blanket That Grew Hotter And More Comfortless As Day 
 Dragged after Day. 
   
   
 At Last, However, We Topped a Low Rise And Saw Muanza Lying On The 
 Lake-Shore, With The Great Island Of Ukereweto The Northward In the 
 Distance.  From Where We First Glimpsed it It Was A Tidy, Tree-Shaded, 
 Pleasant-Looking Place, With A Square Fort, And A Big House For The 
 Commandant On A Rise Overlooking The Town. 
   
   
 "Now We'Ll Wire Monty At Last!" Said Fred. 
   
   
 "Now We'Ll Shave And Wash And Write Letters!" Said Will. 
   
   
 "Now At Last For A Doctor!" Said I. 
   
   
 But Brown Said Nothing, And Kazimoto Wore A Look Of Anxious Discontent. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 195 
         When Kenia'S Peak Glows Gold And Rose 
                 A Dawn Breeze Whispers To The Plain 
         With Breath Cooled sweet By Mountain Snows - 
                 "The Darkness Soon Shall Come Again!" 
         Stirs Then The Sleepless, Lean Masai 
                 And Stands O'Er Plain And Peak At Gaze 
         Resentful Of The Bright'Ning Sky, 
                 Impatient Of The White Man'S Days. 
   
   
 Oh Dark Nights, When The Charcoal Glowed and Falling Hammers    Rang! 
 When Fundis* Forged the Spear-Blades, And The Warriors Danced   And 
 Sang! 
 When The Marriageable Spearmen Gathered, Calling Each To Each 
 Telling Over Proverbs That The Tribal Wisemen Teach, 
 Brother Promising Blood-Brother Partnership In weal And Woe - 
 Nightlong Stories Of The Runners Come From Spying On The Foe - 
 Nights Of Boasting By The Thorn-Fire Of The Coming Tale Of      Slain - 
 Oh The Times Before The English!  When Will Those Times Come    Again! 
   
   
 Oh The Days And Nights Of Raiding, When The Feathered spearmen  Strode 
 With The Hide Shields On Their Forearms, And The Wild Nyanza    Road 
 Grew Blue With Smoking Villages, Grew Red with Flaring Roofs, 
 Grew Noisy With The Shouting and The Thunder Of The Hoofs 
 As We Drove The Plundered cattle--When We Burned the Night With 
 Haste - 
 When We Leapt At Dawn From Ambush--When We Laid The Shambas     Waste! 
   
   
 ---------------- 
 *Fundis--Skilled workman. 
 ---------------- 
   
   
 Oh The New Spears Dipped in life-Blood As The Women Shrieked in 
 Vain! 
 Oh The Days Before The English! When Will Those Days Come       Again! 
 Oh The Homeward Road In triumph With The Plunder Borne Along 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 196 
 On The Heads Of Taken Women!  Oh The Daughter And The Song! 
 Oh The Tusks Of Yellow Ivory--The Frasilas Of Beads - 
 And, Best Of All, The Heifers That The Marriageable Needs! 
 The Yells When Village Eyes At Last Our Sky-Line Feathers See 
 And The Maidens Run To Count How Many Marriages Shall Be - 
 Ten Heifers To A Maiden (And The Chief'S Girl Stands For        Twain)-- 
 Oh The Days Before The English!  When Will Those Days Come      Again! 
   
   
 Now The Fat Herds Grow In number, And The Old Are Rich In       Trade, 
 Now The Grass Grows Green And Heavy Where The Six-Foot Spears   Were 
 Made. 
 Now The Young Men Walk To Market, And The Wives Have Beads And  Wire - 
 Brass And Iron--Glass And Cowrie--Past The Limit Of Desire. 
 There Is Peace From Lake To Mountain, And The Very Zebra Breed 
 Where A Law Says None May Hurt Them (And The Wise Are They Who  Heed!) 
 Yea--The Peace Lies On The Country As Our Herds Oerspread The   Plain - 
 But The Days Before The English--When Shall Those Days Come     Again! 
   
   
         When Kenia'S Peak Glows Gold And Rose 
                 A Dawn Breeze Whispers To The Plain 
         With Breath Cooled sweet By Mountain Snows - 
                 "The Darkness Soon Shall Come Again!" 
         Stirs Then The Sleepless, Lean Masai 
                 And Stands O'Er Plain And Peak At Gaze 
         Resentful Of The Bright'Ning Sky, 
                 Impatient Of The White Man'S Days. 
   
   
 What First Looked like A Pleasant Place Dwindled into Charmlessness And 
 Insignificance As We Approached.  There Was Neatness--Of A Kind.  The 
 Round Huts Were Confined to Certain Streets, And All Inhabited by 
 Natives.  Arabs, Swahili, Indians, Goanese, Syrians, Greeks And So On 
 Had To Live In rectangular Huts And Keep To Other Streets.  On One 
 Street, Chiefly Of Stores, All The Roofs Were Of Corrugated iron.  And 
 All The Streets Were Straight, With Shade Trees Planted down Both Sides 
 At Exactly Equal Intervals. 
   
   
 But The German Blight Was There, Instantly Recognizable By Any One Not 
 Mentally Perverted by German Teaching.  The Place Was Governed--Existed 
 For And By Leave Of Government.  The Inhabitants Were There On 
 Suffrance, And Aware Of It--Not In the Very Least Degree Enthusiastic 
 Over German Rule, But Awfully Appreciative. 
   
   
 The First Thing We Met Of Interest On Entering The Township Was A 
 Chain-Gang, Fifty Long, Marching at Top Speed in step, Led by A Nubian 
 Soldier With A Loaded rifle, Flanked by Two Others, And Pursued by A 
 Fourth Armed only With The Hippo-Hide Whip, Called kiboko By The 
 Natives, That Can Cut And Bruise At One Stroke.  He Plied it Liberally 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 197 
 Whenever The Gang Betrayed symptoms Of Intending To Slow Down. 
   
   
 Those Nubiains, We Learned later, Were Deserters From British Sudanese 
 Regiments, And Runaways From British Jails, Afraid To Take The 
 Thousand-Mile Journey Northward Home Again, Scornful Of All Foreign 
 Black Men, Fanatic Muhammedans, And Therefore Fine Tools In the German 
 Hand.  They Worked harder Than The Chain-Gang, For They Had To March 
 With It Step For Step And Into The Bargain Force It To Do Its Appointed 
 Labor.  The Chain-Gang Kept The Township Clean--Very Clean Indeed, As 
 Far As Outward Appearance Went. 
   
   
 The Boma, Or Fort, Was Down By The Water-Front And Its High Eastern 
 Wall, Pierced by Only One Gate, Formed one Boundary Of The Drill-Ground 
 That Was Also Township Square.  Facing The Wall On The Eastern Side Of 
 The Square Was A Row Of Indian And Arab Stores.  At The North End Was 
 The Market Building--An Enormous Structure Of Round Stucco Pillars 
 Supporting a Great Grass Roof;  And Facing That At The Southern End 
 Were The Court-House, The Hospital, And A Store Owned by The Deutch 
 Oest Africa Gesellschaft, Known Far And Wide By Its Initials--A Concern 
 That Owned the Practical Monopoly Of Wholesale Import And Export Trade, 
 And Did A Retail Business, Too. 
   
   
 We Went First To The Hospital.  Fred and Will Lifted me Out Of The 
 Hammock, For My Wound Had Grown Much Worse During The Last Few Days, 
 And The Door Being Shut They Set Me Down On The Step.  Then We Sent 
 Kazimoto Into The Fort With A Note To The Senior Officer Informing Him 
 That A European Waited at The Hospital In need of Prompt Medical 
 Treatment. 
   
   
 The Sentry Admitted kazimoto Readily Enough, But He Did Not Come Out 
 Again For Half-An-Hour, And Then Looked glum. 
   
   
 "Habanah!" He Said Simply, Using The All-Embracing Native Negative. 
   
   
 "Isn'T Any One In there?" We Demanded all Together. 
   
   
 "Surely." 
   
   
 "How Many?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 198 
 "Very Many." 
   
   
 "Officers?" 
   
   
 He Nodded. 
   
   
 "Is A Doctor There?" 
   
   
 He Told Us He Had Asked for The Doctor.  A Soldier Had Pointed him Out. 
  He Had Placed the Note In the Doctor'S Hand. 
   
   
 "Did He Read It?" We Asked. 
   
   
 "Surely.  He Read It, And Then Showed it To The Other Officers." 
   
   
 "What Did They Say?" 
   
   
 "They Laughed and Said Nothing." 
   
   
 It Seemed pretty Obvious That Kazimoto Had Made A Mistake In some Way. 
 Perhaps He Had Visited the Non-Commissioned officers' Mess. 
   
   
 I'Ll Go Myself," Announced will.  "I Can Sling The German Language Like 
 A Barkeep.  Bet You I'M Back Here With A Doctor Inside Of Three 
 Minutes!" 
   
   
 He Strode Off Like Sir Galahad In football Shorts, And Was Passed 
 Through The Gate By The Sentry Almost Unchallenged.  But He Was Gone 
 More Than Fifteen Minutes, And Came Back At Last With His Ears Crimson. 
  Nor Would He Answer Our Questions. 
   
   
 "Shall I Go?" Suggested fred. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 199 
 "Not Unless You Like Insolence!  We Passed the Camping-Ground, It 
 Seems, On Our Way In.  We'Ve Leave To Pitch Tents There.  We'D Better 
 Be Moving." 
   
   
 So We Trailed back The Way We Had Come To A Triangular Sandy Space 
 Enclosed by A Cactus Hedge At The Junction Of Three Roads.  There Were 
 Several Small Grass-Roofed shelters With Open Sides In there, And Two 
 Tents Already Pitched, But We Were Not Sufficiently Interested just 
 Then To See Who Owned the Other Tents.  We Pitched our Own--Stowed the 
 Loads In one Of The Shelters--Gave Our Porters Money For Board And 
 Rations--And Sent Them To Find Quarters In the Town.  Another Of The 
 Shelters We Took Over For A Kitchen, And While Our Servants Were 
 Cooking a Meal We Four Gathered in fred'S Tent And Began To Question 
 Will Again. 
   
   
 "They'Ve Got A Fine Place In there," He Said.  "Neat As A New Pin. 
 Officers' Mess.  Non-Commissioned officers' Quarters.  Stores. 
 Vegetable Garden.  Jail--Looks Like A Fine Jail--Hold A Couple Of 
 Hundred.  Government Offices.  Two-Story Buildings.  Everything Fine. 
 The Officers Were All Sitting Smoking On A Veranda. 
   
   
 "'Is One Of You The Doctor?' I Asked in german, And A Tall Lean One 
 With A Mighty Mean Face Turned his Head To Squint At Me:  But He Didn'T 
 Take His Feet Off The Rail.  He Looked inquisitive, That'S All. 
   
   
 "'Are You The Doctor?' I Asked him. 
   
   
 "'I Am Staff Surgeon,' He Answered.  'What Do You Want?' 
   
   
 "I Told Him About Your Wound, And How We'D Marched about Two Hundred 
 Miles On Purpose To Get Medical Assistance.  He Listened without Asking 
 A Question, And When I'D Done He Said Curtly That The Hospital Opens 
 For Out-Patients At Eight In the Morning. 
   
   
 "Well, I Piled it On Then.  I Told Him Your Leg Was So Rotten That You 
 Might Not Be Alive To-Morrow Morning.  He Didn'T Even Look Interested. 
 I Piled it On Thicker And Told Him About The Poisoned spear.  He Didn'T 
 Bat An Eyelid Or Make A Move.  So I Started in to Coax Him. 
   
   
 "I Did Some Coaxing.  Believe Me, I Swallowed more Pride In five 
 Minutes Than I Guessed i Owned!  A Ward-Heeler Cadging Votes For A 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 200 
 Milwaukee Alderman Never Wheedled more Gingerly.  I Called him 'Herr 
 Staff Surgeon' And Mentioned the Well-Known Skill Of German Medicos, 
 And The Keen Sense Of Duty Of The German Army, And A Whole Lot Of Other 
 Stuff. 
   
   
 "'Tomorrow Morning at Eight!' Was All The Answer I Got From Him. 
   
   
 "I Reckon It Was Somewhere About That Time I Began To Get Rattled.  I 
 Pulled out Money And Showed it.  He Looked the Other Way, And When I 
 Went On Talking He Turned his Back.  I Suspect He Didn'T Dare Keep On 
 Lookin' At Money Almost Within Reach.  Anyhow, Then I Opened on Him, 
 Firin' Both Bow Guns.  I Dared him To Sit There, With A Patient In need 
 Of Prompt Attention Less Than Two Hundred yards Away.  I Called him 
 Names.  I Guaranteed to Write To The German Government And The United 
 States Papers About Him.  I Told Him I'D Have His Job If It Cost Me All 
 My Money And A Lifetime'S Trouble.  He Was Just About Ready To 
 Shoot--I'D Just About Got The Red blood Rising On His Neck And 
 Ears--When Along Came The Commandant--Der Herr Capitain--The Officer 
 Commanding Muanza--A Swag-Bellied ruffian With A Beard And A Beery Look 
 In His Eye, But A Voice Like A Man Falling Down Three Stories With All 
 The Fire-Irons. 
   
   
 "'What Do You Want?' He Demanded in english, And I Thanked him First 
 For Not Having Mistaken Me For One Of His Own Countrymen.  Then I Told 
 Him What I'D Come For. 
   
   
 "'To-Morrow At Eight O'Clock!' He Snapped, After He'D Had A Word With 
 The Medico.  'Meanwhile, Make Yourself Scarce Out Of Here!  There Is A 
 Camping-Ground For The Use Of Foreigners.  You And Your Party Go To It! 
  If You Do Any Damage There You Will Hear From Me Later!' 
   
   
 "I Didn'T Come As Easy As All That.  I Stood There Telling Him Things 
 About Germany And Germans, And What I'D Do To Help His Personal 
 Reputation With The Home Folks, Until I Guessed he Had His Craw As Near 
 Full As He Could Stand It Without Having Me Arrested.  Then I Did 
 Come--Whistling Yankee-Doodle.  And Say--Fred!  Where'S That Concertina 
 Of Yours?" 
   
   
 Fred patted it.  His Beloved instrument Was Never Far From Hand. 
   
   
 "Why Don'T You Play All The American And English Tunes You Know 
 To-Night?  Play And Sing 'Em, Britannia Rule The Waves--Marching 
 Through Georgia--My Country 'Tis Of Thee--The Marseillaise -The Battle 
 Hymn Of The Republic--And Anything and Everything You Know That 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 201 
 Squareheads Won'T Like.  Let'S Make This Camp A Reg'Lar--Hello--See 
 Who'S Here!" 
   
   
 Fred had Begun Fingering The Keys Already And The First Strains Of 
 Marching Through Georgia Began To Awake The Neighborhood To Recognition 
 Of The Fact That Foreigners Were Present Who Held No Especial Brief For 
 German Rule.  The Tent-Door Darkened.  Brown Leapt To His Feet And 
 Swore. 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!" Said A Voice We All Recognized instantly.  "That Tune 
 Sounds Good!  I'Ve Lived in the States!  I'M A United states Citizen! 
 A Man Can'T Forget His Own Country'S Tunes So Easily!" 
   
   
 Cool And Impudent, Georges Coutlass Entered and, Without Waiting For An 
 Invitation, Took A Seat On A Load Of Canned food.  Brown Grabbed the 
 Nearest Rifle (It Happened to Be Fred'S)--Snapped open The 
 Breach--Discovered it Was Loaded--And Took Aim.  Coutlass Did Not Even 
 Blink.  He Was Either Sure Fred and Will Would Interfere, Or Else At 
 The End Of His Tether And Indifferent To Death. 
   
   
 "Don'T Be An Ass, Brown!" 
   
   
 Fred knocked the Rifle Up.  Will Took It Away And Returned it To The 
 Corner. 
   
   
 "All Very Easy For You Men To Take High Moral Ground And All That Sort 
 Of Rot," Brown Grumbled.  "It'S My Cattle He Took!  It'S Me Be'S 
 Ruined!  What Do I Care If The Germans Hang Me?  Let Me Have A Crack At 
 Him--Just One!" 
   
   
 "Use Your Fists All You Care To!" Grinned will. 
   
   
 But Brown Was No Match For The Greek Without Weapons--Very Likely No 
 Match For Him With Them.  Coutlass Sat Still And Grinned, While Brown 
 Remained in the Back Of The Tent, Glaring. 
   
   
 "Bah!" Sneered coutlass.  "Of What Use Is Being Sulky?  I Found Cattle 
 In A Village.  How Should I Know Whose Cattle They Were?  Why Blame Me? 
  The Masai Got The Cattle, Not I!  They Took Them From Me, And They'D 
 Have Taken Them From You Just The Same!  You Lost Nothing By My Lifting 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 202 
 Them First!  Gassharamminy!  By Blazes!  We'Re All In the Same Boat! 
 Let'S Be Friendly, And Treat One Another Like Gentlemen!  We'Re All In 
 The Power Of The Germans, Unless We Can Think Of A Way To Escape!  I 
 And My Party Are Under Arrest.  So Will You Be By To-Morrow!  I Shall 
 Tell A Tale To-Morrow That Will Keep You By The Heels For A Month At 
 Least While They Investigate!  Wait And See!" 
   
   
 "Get Out Of This Tent!" Growled fred in the Dead-Level Voice He Uses 
 When He Means To Brook No Refusal. 
   
   
 "Presently!" 
   
   
 Fred made A Spring at Him, But Coutlass Was On His Feet With The Speed 
 Of A Cat, And Just Outside The Tent In time To Avoid The Swing Of 
 Fred'S Fist.  He Withdrew About Two Yards And Stood There Grinning 
 Maliciously. 
   
   
 "You'Ll Be Glad To Make Terms With Me By This Time To-Morrow!" He 
 Boasted.  "By James, You'Ll Be Glad To Have Me For A Friend!  Listen, 
 You Fools!  Make Terms With Me Now;  Let Us All Go Together And Unearth 
 That Tippoo Tib Ivory, And I Can Arrange With These Germans To Let Us 
 Go Away!  Otherwise, You Shall See How Long You Stop Here!  By The 
 Twelve Apostles! You Shall Rot In a German Jail Until Your Joints 
 Creak!" 
   
   
 His Greek Friend And The Goanese, Supposing Him In trouble Perhaps, 
 Came And Stood In line With Him.  Very Comfortless They Looked, And Of 
 The Three Only Coutlass Had Courage Of A Kind. 
   
   
 "They Stole The Cattle On The British Side Of The Border," Will Said 
 Sotto Voice.  "No Earthly Use Threatening Them With German Law." 
   
   
 "Keep Away From Our Camp," Fred ordered them, "Or Take The 
 Consequences!  Mr. Brown Here Is In no Mood For Pleasantries!" 
   
   
 "That Drunkard Brown?" Roared coutlass.  "He Is In no Mood For--Oh, 
 Haw-Hah-Hee-Ho-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha!  Drunkard Brown Of Lumbwa Wants To Avenge 
 Himself, And His Friends Won'T Let Him!  Oh, Isn'T That A Joke!  Oh, 
 Ha-Ha-Ha-Hee-Hee-Ha-Ho-Ho!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 203 
 His Two Companions Made A Trio Of It, Yelling With Stage Laughter Like 
 Disgusting animals.  Fred took A Short Quick Step Forward.  Will 
 Followed, And Brown Reached for The Rifle Again.  But I Stopped all 
 Three Of Them. 
   
   
 "Come Back!  Don'T Let'S Be Fools!" I Insisted.  "I Never Saw A More 
 Obvious Effort To Start Trouble In my Life!  It'S A Trap!  Keep Out Of 
 It!" 
   
   
 "Sure Enough," Will Admitted. "You'Re Right!" 
   
   
 He Returned into The Tent And The Greeks, Perhaps Supposing He Went For 
 Weapons, Retreated, Continuing To Shout Abuse At Brown Who, Between A 
 Yearning To Get Drunk And Sorrow For His Stolen Cattle, Was Growing 
 Tearful. 
   
   
 "They Got Here First," I Argued.  "They'Ve Had Time To Tell Their Own 
 Story.  That May Account For Our Cold Reception By The Germans.  He 
 Says They'Re Under Arrest.  That May Be True, Or It May Be A Trick. 
 It'S Perfectly Obvious Coutlass Wanted to Start A Fight, And I'M Dead 
 Sure He Wasn'T Taking Such A Chance As It Seemed.  Who Wants To Look 
 Behind The Cactus Hedge And See Whether He Has Friends In ambush?" 
   
   
 "Drunkard Brown Is On The Town--On The Town--On The Town!" Roared 
 Coutlass And His Friends From Not Very Far Away. 
   
   
 "Oh, Let Me Go And Have A Crack At 'Em!" Begged brown.  "I Tell You I 
 Don'T Care About Jail!  I Don'T Care If I Do Get Killed!" 
   
   
 Fred kept A Restraining Hand On Him.  Will Left The Tent And Walked 
 Straight For The Gap In the Cactus Hedge By Which We Had Entered the 
 Enclosure.  It Was Only Twenty Yards Away. 
   
   
 Once Through The Gap He Glanced swiftly To Right And Left--Laughed--And 
 Came Back Again. 
   
   
 "Only Six Of 'Em!" He Grinned.  "Six Full-Sized nubians In uniform, 
 With Army Boots On, No Bayonets Or Rifles, But Good Big Sticks And 
 Handcuffs!  If We'D Touched those Greeks They'D Have Jumped the Fence 
 And Stretched us Out!  What The Devil D'You Suppose They Want Us In 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 204 
 Jail For?" 
   
   
 "D'You Suppose They Think," I Said, "That If They Had Us In jail In 
 This God-Forsaken Place We'D Divulge The Secret Of Tip-Poo'S Ivory?" 
   
   
 "Why Don'T We Tell 'Em The Secret!" Suggested will, And That Seemed 
 Such A Good Idea That We Laughed ourselves Back Into Good Temper--Even 
 Brown, Who Had No Notion Whether We Knew The Secret, Being Perfectly 
 Sure We Would Not Be Such Fools As To Tell The True Whereabouts Of The 
 Hoard In any Case. 
   
   
 "I Want To Get Even With All Africa!" He Grumbled.  "I Want To Make 
 Trouble That'Ll Last!  I'D Start A War This Minute If I Knew How!  If 
 It Weren'T For Those Bloody Greeks Laughing at Me I'D Get More Drunk 
 To-Night Than Any Ten Men In the World Ever Were Before In history! 
 Yes, Sir!  And My Name'S Brown Of Lumbwa To Prove I Mean What I Say!" 
   
   
 After A While, Seeing That No Trouble Was Likely, The Nubian Soldiers 
 Came Out Of Ambush And Marched away.  We Ate Supper.  The Greeks And 
 The Goanese Subsided into Temporary Quiet, And Our Own Boys, Squatting 
 By A Fire They Had Placed so That They Could Watch The Greeks' 
 Encampment, Began Bumming a Native Song.  Their Song Reminded fred of 
 Will'S Earlier Suggestion, And He Unclasped the Concertina. 
   
   
 Then For Three-Quarters Of An Hour He Played, And We Sang All The Tunes 
 We Knew Least Likely To Make Germans Happy, Repeating The Marseillaise 
 And Rule Britannia Again And Again In pious Hope That At Least A Few 
 Bars Might Reach To The Commandant'S House On The Hill. 
   
   
 Whether They Did Or Not--Whether The Commandant Writhed as We Hoped in 
 The Torture Of Supreme Insult, Or Slept As Was Likely From The 
 After-Effect Of Too Much Bottled beer With Dinner--There Were Others 
 Who Certainly Did Hear, And Made No Secret Of It. 
   
   
 To Begin With, The Part Of The Township Nearest Us Was The Quarter Of 
 Round Grass Roofs, Where The Aborigines Lived;  And The Bantu Heart 
 Responds To Tuneful Noise, As Readily As Powder To The Match.  All That 
 Section Of Muanza, Man, Woman And Child, Came And Squatted outside The 
 Cactus Hedge.  (It Was Streng Politzeilich Verboten For Natives To 
 Enter The European Camping-Ground, So That Except When They Wanted to 
 Steal They Absolutely Never Trespassed past The Hedge.) 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 205 
 Enraptured by The Unaccustomed strains They Sat Quite Still Until Some 
 Swahili And Arabs Came And Beat Them To Make Room.  When The Struggle 
 And Hot Argument That Followed that Had Died down, Indians Began 
 Coming, And Other Greeks, Until Most Of The Inhabitants Of The Eastern 
 Side Of Town Were Either Squatting Or Standing Or Pacing To And Fro 
 Outside The Camping-Ground. 
   
   
 At Last Rumor Of What Was Happening Reached the D.O.A.G.--The Store At 
 The Corner Of The Drill-Ground, Where It Seemed the Non-Commissioned 
 Officers Took Their Pleasure Of An Evening.  Pleasure, Except As Laid 
 Down In regulations, Is Not Permitted in german Colonies To Any Except 
 White Folk.  No Less Than Eight German Sergeants And A Sergeant-Major, 
 All The Worse For Liquor, Turned out As If To A Fire And Came Down 
 Street At A Double. 
   
   
 They Had Kibokos In their Hands.  The First We Heard Of Their Approach 
 Was The Crack-Crack-Crack Of The Black Whips Falling On Naked or 
 Thin-Cotton-Clad Backs And Shoulders.  There Was No Yelling (It Was Not 
 Allowed after Dark On German Soil, At Least By Natives) But A Sudden 
 Pattering In the Dust As A Thousand Feet Hurried away.  Then, In the 
 Glow Of Our Lamplight, Came The Sergeant-Major Standing Spraddle-Legged 
 In Front Of Us. 
   
   
 He Was A Man Of Medium Height, In clean White Uniform.  The First Thing 
 I Noticed about Him Was The High Cheek-Bones And Murderous Blue Eyes, 
 Like A Pig'S.  His General Build Was Heavy.  The Fair Mustache Made No 
 Attempt To Conceal Fat Lips That Curled cruelly.  His General Air Was 
 That Most Offensive One To Decent Folk, Of The Bully Who Would 
 Ingratiate By Seeming a Good Fellow. 
   
   
 "'Nabnd, Meine Herren!" He Said Aggressively, With A Smile More Than 
 Half Made Up Of Contempt For Courtesy.  "Ich Heiess Schubert-Feldwebel 
 Hans Schubert." 
   
   
 "Wass Wollen Sie?" Will Asked.  He Was The Only One Of Us Who Knew 
 German Well. 
   
   
 But Schubert, It Seemed, Knew English And Was Glad To Show It Off. 
   
   
 "You Make Fine Music!  Ach!  Up At The D.O.A.G. Very Near Here We 
 Unteroffitzieren Spend The Evening, All Very Fond Of Singing, Yet 
 Without Music At All.  Will You Not Come And Play With Us?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 206 
 "I Only Know French And English Tunes!" Lied fred. 
   
   
 "Ach!  I Do Not Believe It!  Kommen Sie!  There Is Beer At The 
 D.O.A.G.--Champagne--Brandy--Whisky--Rum--?" 
   
   
 "I'M Going, Then, For One!" Announced brown, Getting Up Immediately. 
   
   
 "Cigars--Cigarettes--Tobacco," The Sergeant-Major Continued.  "There Is 
 No Closing Time."  He Saw That The Line Of Argument Was Not Tempting, 
 And Changed his Tactics. "Listen!  You Gentlemen Have Not Too Many 
 Friends In muanza!  I Speak In friendship.  I Invite You On Behalf Of 
 Myself And Other Unteroffitzieren To Spend Gemuthlich Evening With Us. 
 That Can Do You No Harm!  In the Course Of Friendly Conversation Much 
 Can Be Learned that Official Lips Would Not Tell! 
   
   
 "Kommen Sie Nun!" 
   
   
 "Let'S Go!" I Said. "My Leg Hurts Like Hell.  If I Stay Here I Can'T 
 Sleep.  Anything To Keep From Thinking about It!  Besides, Some One 
 Must Go And Look After Brown!" 
   
   
 "Who'Ll Watch Those Greeks?" Fred demanded.  "They'D As Soon Steal As 
 Eat!" 
   
   
 "We'D Better All Stay Here Together," Said Will, "And Take Turns 
 Keeping Watch Till Morning."  He Said It With A Straight Face, But I 
 Did Not Think He Was In earnest. 
   
   
 "Ach!" Exclaimed schubert.  "That Is All Ganz Einfach!  You Shall Have 
 Askaris!" 
   
   
 He Turned and Shouted an Order.  A Non-Commissioned officer Went 
 Running Back Up-Street. 
   
   
 "You Shall Have Three Askaris To Guard Your Camp.  So Nothing Whatever 
 Shall Be Stolen!  Then Come Along And Make Music--Seien Sie Gemuthlich! 
 Yah?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 207 
 Brown Had Already Gone, Jingling Money In his Pocket.  We Waited until 
 The Nubian Soldiers Came--Saw Them Posted--And Then Walked up-Street 
 Behind The Sergeants, Schubert Leading Us All, And I Limping Between 
 Fred and Will.  They As Good As Carried me The Last Half Of The Way. 
   
   
 The Sergeants Marched with The Air Peculiar To Military Germans, Of Men 
 Who Are Going To Be Amused.  They Said Nothing--Did Not Smile--But 
 Strode Straight Forward, Three Abreast, Swinging Their Kibokos With A 
 Sort Of Elephantine Sporty Air.  They Were Men Of All Heights And 
 Thicknesses, But Each Alike Impressed me With The Prussian Military 
 Mold That Leaves A Man No Imagination Of His Own, And No Virtue, But 
 Only An Animal Respect For Whatever Can Make To Suffer, Or Appease An 
 Appetite. 
   
   
 The D.O.A.G. Proved a Mournful Enough Lounging Place In which To Spend 
 Convivial Evenings.  However, It Seemed that When The Sergeant-Major 
 Had Decreed amusement The Non-Commissioned officers' Mess Overlooked 
 All Trifles In brave Determination To Obey.  They Marched in, Humming 
 Tunes (Each A Different One, And Nearly All High Tenor) And Took Seats 
 In A Room At The Rear Of The Building With Their Backs Against A 
 Mud-Brick Wall That Was Shiny From Much Rubbing By Drill Tunics. 
   
   
 Down The Center Was A Narrow Table, Loaded with Drinks Of All Sorts.  A 
 Case Of Bottled beer Occupied the Place Of Pride At One End;  As 
 Schubert Had Boasted, Nothing Was Lacking That East Africa Could Show 
 In The Way Of Imported alcohol.  Under The Table Was An Unopened case 
 Of Sweet German Champagne, And On A Little Table Against One Wall Were 
 Such Things As Absinth, Chartreuse, Peppermint, And Benedictine. 
 Soda-Water Was Slung Outside The Window In a Basket Full Of Wet Grass 
 Where The Evening Breeze Would Keep It Cool. 
   
   
 "Now For Gesang!" Shouted schubert, Knocking The Neck Off A Bottle Of 
 Beer, And Beginning To Sing Like A Drunken Pirate. 
   
   
 A Man Whom He Introduced as "A Genuine Jew From Jerusalem" Came Out 
 From A Gloomy Recess Filled with Tusks And Sacks Of Dried red pepper, 
 And Watched everything From Now On With An Eye Like A Gimlet, Writing 
 Down In a Book Against Each Sergeant'S Name Whatever He Took To Drink. 
 They Appeared to Have No Check On Him.  Nobody Signed anything.  Nobody 
 As Much As Glanced at His Account. 
   
   
 "What Is The Use?" Said Schubert, Noticing My Glance And Interpreting 
 The Unspoken Question.  "There Is Just So Much Drink In the Whole 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 208 
 Place.  We Shall Drink Every Drop Of It!  All That Matters Is, Who Is 
 To Pay For The Champagne?  That Stuff Is Costly." 
   
   
 They All Took Beer To Begin With, Knocking The Necks From The Bottles 
 As If That Act Alone Lent The Necessary Air Of Deviltry To The Whole 
 Proceedings.  A Small, Very Black Nyamwesi Came With Brush And Pan And 
 Groped on The Floor All Night For The Splinters Of Glass, Sleeping 
 Between Times In a Corner Until A Fresh Volley Of Breaking Bottle Necks 
 Awoke Him To Work Again. 
   
   
 "Die Wacht Am Rhein!" Yelled schubert.  "Start It Up!  Sing That 
 First!"  He Began To Sing It Himself, All Out Of Tune. 
   
   
 Fred cut The Noise Short By Standing Up To Play Something Nobody Could 
 Sing To A Jangling Clamor Of Chords And Runs On Which He Prides 
 Himself, That He Swears Is Classical, But Of Which Neither He Nor 
 Anybody Knows The Name.  Then He Drank Some Beer And Sang A Comic Song 
 Or Two In english, We Joining In the Choruses. 
   
   
 Meanwhile, Brown Was Soaking away Steadily, Taking Whatever Drink Came 
 First To Hand, And Having No Interest Whatever In anything But The Task 
 Of Assuaging The Thirst He Had Accumulated in the Course Of All That 
 Long Marching Since He Left Home.  He Had Forgotten His Cattle 
 Already--The Greeks Who Stole Them--The Masai Who Stole From The 
 Greeks.  He Paid For All He Took, To The Jew'S Extreme Surprise And 
 Satisfaction, And Grumbled at The Price Of Everything, To The Jew'S 
 Supremest Unconcern. 
   
   
 "An' My Name'S Brown O' Lumbwa, Just In proof Of All I Say!" He 
 Informed the Room At Large At Intervals. 
   
   
 When Will Had Exhausted all The American Songs He Knew, And Fred had 
 Run Through His Own Long List There Was Nothing Left For It But To Make 
 Up Accompaniments To The Songs The Sergeants Had Been Raised on.  Fred 
 Made The Happy Discovery That None Of Them Knew The Marseillaise, So He 
 Played that As An Antidote Each Time After They Had Made The Hard-Wood 
 Rafters Ring and The Smoke-Filled air Vibrate With Teutonic Jingoism. 
 The Jew, Who Probably Knew More Than He Cared to Admit, Grew More And 
 More Beady-Eyed each Time The Marseillaise Was Played. 
   
   
 There Was A Pause In the Proceedings At About Ten O'Clock, By Which 
 Time All The Sergeants Except Schubert Were Sufficiently Drunk To Feel 
 Thoroughly At Ease.  Schubert Was Cold-Eyed sober, Although Scarcely 
 Any Longer Thirsty. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 209 
 A Native Was Brought In by Two Askaris And Charged before Schubert With 
 Hanging about The Boma Gate After Dark.  He Was Asked the Reason.  The 
 Jew, Sitting Beside Me With His Book Of Names And Charges, Poured cool 
 Water Over My Bandages And Translated to Me What They All Said.  He 
 Spoke English Very Well Indeed, But In such Low Tones That I Could 
 Scarcely Catch The Words, Drawing In his Breath And Not Moving His Lips 
 At All. 
   
   
 The Native Explained that He Had Waited to See The Bwana Makubwa--The 
 Commandant.  He Had Nowhere To Go And No Money With Which To Pay For 
 Lodging, So He Proposed to Wait Outside The Gate And Watch For The 
 Coming Of The Commandant Next Morning.  He Would Intercept Him On His 
 Way Down From The White House On The Hill. 
   
   
 He Was Asked why.  To Beg A Favor.  What Favor?  Satisfaction.  For 
 What?  For His Daughter.  He Was The Father Of The Girl Whom The 
 Commandant Had Favored with Attentions.  She Had Been A Virgin.  Now 
 She Was To Have A Child.  It Would Be A Half-Black, Half-White Child. 
 Who Would Now Marry A Woman With Such A Child As That?  Yet Nothing Bad 
 Been Given Her.  She Had Been Simply Sent Back Home To Be A Charge On 
 Her Parents And An Already Poverty-Stricken Village.  Therefore He Had 
 Come To Ask That Justice Be Done, And The Girl Be Given At Least A 
 Present Of Money. 
   
   
 The Sergeants Roared with Laughter, All Except Schubert, Who Seemed 
 Only Appalled by The Impudence Of The Request.  He Sat Back And Ordered 
 The Story Repeated. 
   
   
 "And You Dare Ask For Money From The Bwana Makubwa!" He Demanded. 
 "You Dog Of A Nyamwesi!  Is The Honor Not Sufficient That Your Black 
 Brute Of A Daughter Should Have A Baby By Such A Great Person?  You 
 Cattle Have No Sense Of Honor!  You Must Learn!  Put Him Down!  Beat 
 Him Till I Say Stop!" 
   
   
 There Was No Need to Put Him Down, However.  The Motion Of The Hand, 
 Voice Inflection, Order Were All Too Well Understood.  The Man Lay 
 Face-Downward On The Floor Without So Much As A Murmur Of Objection, 
 And Buried his Face In both Hands.  The Askaris Promptly Stripped him 
 Of The Thin Cotton Loin-Cloth That Constituted his Only Garment, 
 Tearing It In pieces As They Dragged it From Him. 
   
   
 "Go On!" Ordered schubert.  "Beat Him!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 210 
 Both The Askaris Had Kibokos.  The Longest Of The Two Was Split At The 
 Nether End Into Four Fingers.  The Shortest Was More Than A Yard Long, 
 Tapering From An Inch And A Half Where The Man'S Fist Gripped it To 
 Half An Inch Thick At The Tip.  They Stood One Each Side Of Their 
 Victim And Brought The Whips Down On His Naked skin Alternately. 
   
   
 "Slowly!" Ordered schubert.  "Slowly, And With All Your Strength!  The 
 Brute Doesn'T Feel It When You Beat So Fast!  Let Him Wait For The 
 Blow!  Don'T Let Him Know When It'S Coming!  So--So Is Better!" 
   
   
 Not Every Blow Drew Blood, For A Native'S Skin Is Thick And Tough, 
 Especially Where He Sits.  But The Blows That Fell On The Back And 
 Thighs All Cut The Skin, And Within Two Minutes The Native'S Back Was A 
 Bloody Mass, And There Was Blood Running On The Floor, And Splashes Of 
 Blood On The Whitewashed wall Cast By The Whips As They Ascended. 
   
   
 I Made Up My Mind The Man Was Going To Be Killed, For Schubert Gave No 
 Order And The Askaris Did Not Dare Stop Without One.  The Victim 
 Writhed, But Did Not Cry Out, And The Writhing Grew Less.  Even Brown 
 Sobered up For A Time At The Sight Of It.  He Came And Sat Between Me 
 And The Jew. 
   
   
 "It'S A Shame!" He Grumbled.  "Up In our Country Twenty-Five Lashes Is 
 The Masshimum, An' Only To Be Laid On In the Presence Of A 
 Massishtrate.  You Beat A Black Man An' They'Ll Fine You First Offense, 
 Jail You Second Offense, An' Third Offense God Knows What They'Ll Do! 
 Poor Ole Brown O' Lumbwa!  They Fined me Once A'Ready.  Nessht Time 
 They'Ll Put Me In jail!  Better Get Quite Drunk An' Be Blowed to It!" 
   
   
 He Staggered back To His Chair By The Farther Wall, Leering at Schubert 
 As He Passed. 
   
   
 "You'Re No Gentleman!" He Asserted aggressively.  "You'Re No Better 'N 
 A Black Man Yourself!  You Ought-To-Be-On-Floor 'Stead O' Him! 
 Dunno-How-Behave-Yourself!  Take Your Coat Off, An' Come Outside, An' 
 Fight Like A Man!" 
   
   
 Schubert Gave The Order To Stop At Last.  The Askaris Stood Aside, 
 Panting From The Effort. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 211 
 "Get Up!" Ordered schubert. 
   
   
 The Miserable Nyamwesi Struggled to His Feet And Stood Limply Before 
 Schubert, His Back Running Blood And His Face Drawn With Torture. 
   
   
 "Don'T You Know How To Behave!" Demanded schubert. 
   
   
 The Native Made No Answer. 
   
   
 "If You Don'T Salute Properly I'Ll Order You Thrown Down And Thrashed 
 Again!" 
   
   
 The Native Saluted in a Sort Of Imitation Of The German Military Manner. 
   
   
 "Now, Will You Lie In wait For The Bwana Makubwa To Trouble Him With 
 Your Pig'S Affairs Again?" 
   
   
 "No." 
   
   
 "Will You Go Back Home?" 
   
   
 "Yes." 
   
   
 "You'Ve Learned a Lesson, Eh?" 
   
   
 "Yes. 
   
   
 "Then Say Thank You!" 
   
   
 "Thank You!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 212 
  "Rrruksa!"*  [*Ruksa, You Have Leave To Go.] 
   
   
 The Poor Wretch Turned and Went, Staggering Rather Than Walking, To The 
 Door And Disappearing Into Outer Darkness Without A Backward Glance. 
   
   
 "Now For Some More Songs And A Round Of Drinks!" Schubert Shouted. 
   
   
 But Fred was No Longer In mood To Make Music, Or Even To Be Civil.  He 
 Shut The Concertina Up, And Asked the Jew How Much He Owed.  The 
 Sergeants Went On Singing Without Music, And While We Waited for The 
 Jew To Reckon Up Fred'S Score Schubert Came Over To Us, Sat Down 
 Between Me And Fred, And Proceeded to Deal With The New Situation In 
 Proper German Military Manner, By Direct Assault. 
   
   
 "Always You English Criticize!" He Began.  "Can You Never Travel 
 Without Applying Your Cursed standards To Everything You Behold?  I 
 Tell You, We Germans Know How To Rule These Black People!  We 
 Understand!  We Employ No Sickly Sentiment!  We Give Orders--They Obey, 
 Or Else Suffer Terribly And Swiftly!  In that Manner We Arrive At 
 Knowing Where We Are!" 
   
   
 "Are You Well Loved by The People?" Fred asked him Politely. 
   
   
 "Bah!  Sie Wollen Wohl Beliebt Werden!*  Not I!  Not We!  Of What Value 
 Is The Love Of Such People?  Their Fear Is What We Cultivate!  Having 
 Made Them Afraid Of Us, We Successfully Make Them Work Our Will!  But 
 Why Should I Trouble To Explain?  In a Few Years There Will Only Be One 
 Government Of Africa!  One, I Tell You, And That German!  You English 
 Are Not Fit To Govern Colonies!  You Are Mawkishly Sentimental!  You 
 Think More Of The Feelings Of A Black Man And Of The Rights Of His 
 Women Than Of Progress--Advancement--Kultur!  Bah!  I Tell You They 
 Have No Feelings A Real Man Need consider!  They Are Only Fit For 
 Furthering The Aims Of Us Germans!  And Their Women Have No Rights! 
 None Whatever!  You Know, I Suppose, That It Is The Policy Of The 
 German Government To Encourage The Spread Of Muhammedanism In africa? 
 Well, Under The Muhammedan Law As Given In the Koran Women Have No 
 Souls!  That Is Good!  That Is As It Should Be!  No Women Have Souls!" 
   
   
 ------------ 
 *You Want To Be Popular, Don'T You! 
 ------------ 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 213 
 "How About Your Own Mother?" Fred suggested. 
   
   
 "She Was A Good Prussian!  She Was A Super-Woman!  Not To Be Mentioned 
 In The Same Breath With Women Of Any Other Race!  Yet Even She--The 
 Good Prussian Mother--Could Not Hold A Candle To A Man!  Her Business 
 Was To Raise Sons For Prussia, And She Did It!  I Have Eight Brothers, 
 All In the Army, And Only One Sister; She Has Four Sons Already!" 
   
   
 "Strange That Your Nation Should Breed like That!" Said Fred. 
   
   
 "Not Strange At All!" Answered schubert.  "We Are Needed to Conquer The 
 World!  Think, For Instance, When We Have Conquered the Congo Free 
 State, And Taken Away East And South Africa From England--To Say 
 Nothing Of Egypt And India!--How Many Prussian Sergeant-Majors We Shall 
 Want! Donnerwetter!  Do You Think We Germans Will Long Be Satisfied 
 With This Miserable Section Of East Africa That Was All The English 
 Left To Us On This Coast?  We Use This For A Foothold, That Is All!  We 
 Use This To Gain Time And Get Ready!  You Think Perhaps I Do Not Know, 
 Eh?  I Am Only Feldwebel--Non-Commissioned officer, You Call It.  Well 
 And Good.  I Tell You Our Officers Talk All The Time Of Nothing Else! 
 And They Don'T Care Who Hears Them!" 
   
   
 The Jew Gave Fred his Bill, Scrawled on A Piece Of Wrapping Paper. 
 Schubert Snatched it Away And Crumpled it Into A Ball. 
   
   
 "Kreutzblitzen!  You Are My Guests To-Night!  I Invited you!" 
   
   
 "Thanks" Fred answered, "But We Don'T Care To Be Your Guests.  Here," 
 He Said, Turning To The Jew, "Take Your, Money!" 
   
   
 Schubert Said Nothing, But Eyed the Jew With A Perfectly Blank Face, As 
 If He Watched to See Whether The Man Would Damn Himself Or Not. 
   
   
 "Take Your Money!" Repeated fred.  But The Jew Turned his Back And 
 Busied himself With Bottles At The Side-Table. 
   
   
 "He Knows Better!" Schubert Laughed.  "He Understands By This Time Our 
 German Hospitality!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 214 
 "All Right," Answered fred.  "We'Ll Go Out Without Paying!" 
   
   
 "Not At All," Retorted schubert.  "The Mess Shall Pay Bill In full! 
 You Stay Here Until I Have Said What I Have To Say To You!  The Rest Of 
 Your Party May Go, But You Stay!  You Can Explain To The Others 
 Afterward." 
   
   
 He Leaned forward, Reached a Bottle Of Beer Off The Table, Knocked off 
 The Neck, And Emptied the Contents Down His Throat At A Draught. 
 Behind His Back We Exchanged glances. 
   
   
 "I'Ll Listen," Said Fred. 
   
   
 "You Alone?" 
   
   
 "No, We All Stay.  All Or None!" 
   
   
 Schubert Made A Contemptuous Gesture With His Thumb Toward Brown, Who 
 Had Fallen Dead Drunk On The Floor. 
   
   
 "Will That One Stay, Too?" 
   
   
 "He Is Not Of Our Party Really," Fred answered.  "He Knows Nothing Of 
 Our Affairs." 
   
   
 "You Men Are In trouble--Worse Trouble Than You Guess!" 
   
   
 Schubert Looked with His Cruel Blue Eyes Into Each Of Ours In turn, 
 Then Stared straight In front Of Him And Waited. 
   
   
 "I Don'T Believe It," Fred answered.  "We Have Done Nothing To Merit 
 Trouble." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 215 
 "Merit In this World Is Another Name For Chance!" Said Schubert. 
   
   
 "What Are We Supposed to Have Done?" Demanded fred. 
   
   
 Schubert At Once Assumed what Was Intended to Be A Sly Look, Of 
 Uncommunicable Knowledge. 
   
   
 "None Of My Business To Tell What My Officers Know," He Answered.  "As 
 For That, Time Will No Doubt Disclose Much.  The Point Is--Trouble Can 
 Be Forestalled." 
   
   
 "Aw--Show Your Hand!" Cut In will, Leaning In front Of Fred.  "I'Ve 
 Seen You Heinies Fishing For Graft Too Often In the States Not To 
 Recognize Symptoms!  Spill The Bait Can!  There'S No Other Way To Tell 
 If We'Ll Bite!  Tell Us What You'Re Driving at!" 
   
   
 "Ivory!" Said Schubert Savagely And Simply, Shutting His Jaws After The 
 Word Like A Snap With A Steel Spring.  It Would Have Broken The Teeth 
 Of An Ordinary Human. 
   
   
 "What Ivory?" 
   
   
 We All Did Our Best To Look Blank. 
   
   
 "You Know!  Tippoo Tib'S Ivory!  It Belongs To The German Government! 
 Emin Pasha, Whom That Adventurer Stanley Rescued against His Will, 
 Agreed to Sell The Secret To Us, But We Never Agreed on A Price And He 
 Died without Telling. 
 Gott!  He Would Have Told Had I Had The Interviewing Of Him!  It Was 
 Known In zanzibar That You And A Certain English Lord Shared the 
 Secret.  You Have Been Watched. You Are Known To Be In search Of The 
 Stuff." 
   
   
 "The Deuce You Say!" Fred murmured, With A Glance To Left And Right At 
 Us. 
   
   
 "If You Were To Go To The Office To-Morrow, And Tell Our Commandant 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 216 
 What You Know," Said Schubert, "You Might Be Suitably Compensated.  You 
 Would Certainly Be Given Facilities For Leaving The Country In comfort 
 At Your Leisure." 
   
   
 "Who Told You To Promise Us That?" Fred demanded, Turning On Him. 
   
   
 The Feldwebel Did Not Answer, But Sat With His Legs Straight Out In 
 Front Of Him, His Heels Together, And The Palms Of His Hands Touching 
 Between His Knees.  The Sergeants Were All Singing, Smoking and 
 Drinking.  The Jew Was Back At His Old Post, Watching Every One With 
 Gimlet Eyes. 
   
   
 "Think It Over!" Said Schubert, Getting Up.  "There Is Time Until 
 Morning.  There Is Time Until You Leave This Building.  After That--" 
 He Shrugged his Square Shoulders Brutally. 
   
   
 There Was No Sense In going Out At Once, As We Had Intended, With That 
 Combination Of Threat And Promise Hanging Over Us. 
   
   
 "Why Not Do What We Said--Admit That We Know What We Don'T Know--And 
 Put 'Em On The Wrong Scent?" Will Whispered. 
   
   
 "I Wish To God Monty Were Here!" Groaned fred. 
   
   
 "Rot!" Will Answered.  "Monty Is All You Ever Said Of Him And Then 
 Some;  But We'Re Able To Handle This Ourselves All Right Without Him. 
 Tell 'Em A Bull Yarn, I Say!" 
   
   
 Fred relapsed into A Sort Of Black Gloom Intended to Attract The Muse 
 Of Strategy.  He Was Always Better At Swift Action In the Open And 
 Optimism In the Face Of Visible Danger, Than At Matching Wits Against 
 Something He Could Not See Beginning Or End Of. 
   
   
 "Tell 'Em It'S In german East!" Urged will.  "Offer To Lead Them To It 
 On Certain Conditions.  Think Up Controversial Proposals!  Play For 
 Timer!" 
   
   
 Fred shook His Head. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 217 
 "What If It Turns Out True?  Monty'S In europe.  Suppose He Should 
 Learn While He'S There That The Stuff Is Really In german East--We'D 
 Have Spoiled his Game!" 
   
   
 "If The Stuff Should Really Be In german East," Will Argued, "We'Ve No 
 Chance In the World Of Getting Even A Broker'S Share Of It, Monty Or No 
 Monty!  Take My Advice And Tell 'Em What They Want To Know!" 
   
   
 Meanwhile An Argument Of Another Kind Had Started across The Room. 
 Schubert Had Related with Grim Amusement To Sergeant Sachse, Who Was 
 Sitting Next Him, Our Disapproval Of The Flogging Of The Father Of The 
 Commandant'S Abandoned woman. 
   
   
 "At What Were They Shocked?" Wondered sachse. "At The Flogging, Or The 
 Intercourse, Or Because He Sent The Female Packing When She Proposed to 
 Have A Child?  Do They Not Know That To Have Children About The 
 Premises Would Be Subversive Of Military Excellence?" 
   
   
 "They Were Shocked at All Three Things," Grinned schubert, "But 
 Chiefly, I Think, At The Flogging." 
   
   
 "Bah!  Such A Tickling Of A Native'S Hide Doesn'T Hurt Him To Speak Of! 
  Wait Until They See Our Court In the Morning!" 
   
   
 It Was That That Raised the Clamor.  Even Schubert, Who Might Be 
 Supposed to Have Won Promotion Because He Could Stay Sober Longer Than 
 The Others, Was Beginning To Grow Noisy In his Speech And To Laugh 
 Without Apparent Reason.  The Rest Were All Already Frankly Drunk, And 
 Any Excuse For Dispute Was A Good One.  They One And All, Including 
 Schubert, Denied sachse'S Contention That A Flogging Did Not Hurt 
 Enough To Matter. 
   
   
 "I Bet I Could Take One Without Winking!" Sachse Announced. 
   
   
 Schubert'S Little Bright Pig-Eyes Gleamed through The Smoke At That. 
   
   
 "Kurtz Und Gut!" He Laughed.  "There Is A Case Of Champagne Unopened. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 218 
 I Bet You That Case Of Champagne That You Lie!  That You Can Not Take A 
 Flogging!" 
   
   
 There Was An United yelp Of Delight.  The Sergeants Rose And Gathered 
 Round Sachse.  Schubert Cursed them And Drove Them To The Chairs Again. 
   
   
 "Open That Case Of Champagne!" He Roared, And The Jew Obeyed, Setting 
 The Bottles On The Table In two Rows. 
   
   
 "I Bet You Those Twelve Bottles You Dare Not Take A Regular Flogging, 
 And That You Can Not Endure It If You Dare Try!" 
   
   
 "I Can Stand As Much As You!" Hedged sachse. 
   
   
 "Good!  We Will See!  We Will Both Take A Flogging--Stroke For Stroke! 
 Whoever Squeals First Shall Pay For The Champagne!" 
   
   
 Sachse Could Not Back Out.  His Cheeks Grew Whiter, But Be Staggered to 
 His Feet, Swearing. 
   
   
 "I Will Show You Of What Material A German Sergeant Is Made!" He 
 Boasted.        "It Is Not Only Prussians Who Are Men Of Metal!  How 
 Shall It Be Arranged?" 
   
   
 The Arrangement Was Easy Enough.  Schubert Shouted for An Askari, And 
 The Corporal Who Was Doing Police Duty Outside In the Street Came 
 Running.  He Had A Kiboko In his Hand Almost A Yard And A Half Long, 
 And Schubert Examined it With Approval. 
   
   
 "How Would You Like To Flog White Men?" He Demanded. 
   
   
 "I Would Not Dare!" Grinned the Corporal. 
   
   
 "Not Dare, Eh?  Would You Not Obey An Order?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 219 
 "Always I Obey!" The Man Answered, Saluting. 
   
   
 "Good.  I Shall Lie Here.  This Other Bwana Shall Lie There Beside Me. 
 You Shall Stand Between.  First You Shall Strike One, Then The 
 Other--Turn And Turn About Until I Give The Order To Cease!  And 
 Listen!  If You Fail Once--Just One Little Time!--To Flog With All Your 
 Might, You Shall Have Two Hundred lashes Yourself;  And They Shall Be 
 Good Ones, Because I Will Lay Them On!  Is It Understood?" 
   
   
 "Yes," Said The Corporal, The Whites Of His Eyes Betraying Doubt, Fear 
 And Wonder.  But He Grinned with His Lips, Lest The Foldwebel Should 
 Suspect Him Of Unwillingness. 
   
   
 "Are The Terms Understood?" Demanded schubert, And The Sergeants Yelped 
 In The Affirmative. 
   
   
 "Then Choose A Referee!" 
   
   
 One Of The Sergeants Volunteered for The Post.  Schubert Lay Down On 
 The Floor, And Sachse Beside Him About Four Feet Away.  The Corporal 
 Took His Stand Between.  He Was An Enormous Nubian, Broad Of Chest, 
 With The Big Sloping Shoulder Muscles That Betray Double The Strength 
 That Tailors Try To Suggest With Jackets Padded to Look Square. 
   
   
 "Nun--Recht Feste Schlagen!"* Ordered schubert. Then He Took The Sleeve 
 Of His Tunic Between His Teeth And Hid His Face.  [*Now, Hit Good And 
 Hard!] 
   
   
 "One!" Said The Referee.  Down Came The Heavy Black Whip With A Crack 
 Like A Gun Going Off.  Schubert Neither Winced nor Murmured, But The 
 Blood Welled into The Seat Of His Pants And Spread Like Red ink On 
 Blotting-Paper. 
   
   
 "'One!" Said The Referee Again.  The Corporal Faced about, And Raised 
 His Weapon, Standing On Tiptoe To Get More Swing.  Sachse Flinched at 
 The Sound Of The Whip Going Up, And The Other Sergeants Roared delight. 
  But He Was Still When It Descended, And The Crack Of The Blow Drew 
 Neither Murmur Nor Movement From Him Either.  Like The Feldwebel, He 
 Had His Sleeve Between His Teeth. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 220 
  "Two!" Said The Referee, And The Black Whip Rose Again.  It Descended 
 With A Crack And A Splash On The Very Spot Whence The Blood Flowed, 
 This Time Cutting The Pants Open, But Schubert Took No More Notice Of 
 It Than If A Fly Had Settled on Him.  There Was A Chorus Of Applause. 
   
   
 "Two!" Said The Referee.  Again The Corporal Faced about And Balanced 
 Himself On Tiptoe.  Sachse Was Much The More Nervous Of The Two.  He 
 Flinched again While Waiting For The Blow, But Met It When It Did Come 
 Without A Tremor Of Any Kind.  He Was Much The Softer.  Blood Flowed 
 From Him More Freely, But His Pants Seemed to Be Of Sterner Stuff, For 
 They Did Not Split Until The Eight-And-Twentieth Lash, Or Thereabouts. 
   
   
 >From First To Last, Although The Raw Flesh Lay Open To The Lash, And 
 The Corporal, Urged to It By The United threats And Praise Of All The 
 Other Sergeants, Wrought His Utmost, Schubert Lay Like A Man Asleep. 
 He Might Have Been Dead, Except For The Even Rise And Fall Of His 
 Breathing, That Never Checked or Quickened once.  Nine-And-Forty 
 Strokes He Took Without A Sign Of Yielding.  At The Eight-And-Fortieth 
 Sachse Moaned a Little, And The Referee Gave The Match Against Him. 
 Schubert Rose To His Feet Unaided, Grinning, Red in the Face, But 
 Without Any Tortured look. 
   
   
 "Now You Can Say Forever That You Have Flogged two White Men!" He Told 
 The Askari. 
   
   
 "Who Will Believe Me?" The Man Answered. 
   
   
 Sachse Had To Be Helped to His Feet.  He Was Pale And Demanded brandy. 
   
   
 "What Did I Tell You?" Laughed schubert.  "A Prussian Is Better Than 
 Any Man!  Look At Him, And Then At Me!" 
   
   
 He Shouted for His Servant, Who Had To Be Fetched from The Boma--A 
 Smug-Faced little Rascal, Obviously In love With The Glory Reflected on 
 The Sergeant-Major'S Servant.  He Was Made To Produce A Basin And Cold 
 Water--He Discovered them Somewhere In the Dim Recesses Of The 
 Store--And Sponge His Master'S Raw Posterior Before Us All.  Then He 
 Was Sent For Clean White Pants And Presently Schubert, Only Refusing To 
 Sit Down, Was Quite Himself Again. 
   
   
 Sachse On The Other Hand Refused the Ministrations Of The Boy--Was 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 221 
 Annoyed by The Chaff Of The Other Sergeants--Refused to Drink Any Of 
 The Sweet Champagne He Would Now Have To Pay For--And Went Away In 
 Great Dudgeon, Murmuring about The Madness That Takes Hold Of Men In 
 Africa. 
   
   
 Meanwhile, While Schubert Strutted and Swaggered, Making Jokes More Raw 
 And Beastly Than His Own Flogged hide, The Jew Came And Poured more 
 Cool Water On My Hot Bandages, Touching Them With Deft Fingers That 
 Looked like The Hairy Legs Of A Huge Spider--His Touch More 
 Gentle--More Fugitive Than Any Woman'S. 
   
   
 "You Should Not Tell Zat Dam Feldwebel Nozink!"  He Advised in nasal 
 English.  "Nefer Mind Vat You Tell Heem He Is All Ze Same Not Your 
 Frien.  He Only Obey Hees Officers.  Zey Say To Cut Your Troat--He Cut 
 It!  Zey Say To Tell You A Lot O' Lies--He Tell!  He Iss Not A T'Inker, 
 But A Doer:  And Hees Faforite Spectacle Iss Ze Blood Of Innocence!  Do 
 Not Effer Say I Did Not Fell You!  On Ze Ozzer Hand, Tell No One Zat I 
 Did Tell!  Zese Are Dangerous People!" 
   
   
 He Resumed business With His Account Book, And I Whispered to Fred and 
 Will What Advice He Had Given.  Seeing Us With Our Heads Together, 
 Schubert Crossed the Room, Beginning To Get Very Drunk Now That The 
 Shock Of The Flogging Had Had Time To Reinforce The Alcohol.  (The 
 Blows Had Sobered him At First.) 
   
   
 "What Have You Decided?" He Asked, Standing Before Us With His Legs 
 Apart And His Hands Behind Him In his Favorite Attitude--Swaying Gently 
 Back And Forward Because Of The Drink, And Showing all His Teeth In a 
 Grin. 
   
   
 "Nothing," Fred answered.  "We'Ll Think It Over." 
   
   
 "Too Late In the Morning!" He Answered, Continuing To Sway.  "I Can Do 
 Nothing For You In the Morning." 
   
   
 "What Can You Do To-Night?" Fred asked. 
   
   
 He Shrugged his Shoulders.  "I Can Report.  The Report Will Go In at 
 Dawn." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 222 
 "You May Tell Your Superiors," Fred answered, Rising, "That If They 
 Care To Make Us A Reasonable Offer, I Don~T Say We Won'T Do Business!" 
   
   
 Schubert Leered. 
   
   
 "To-Morrow Will Be Too Late!" He Repeated. 
   
   
 It Was Fred'S Turn To Shrug Shoulders, And He Did It Inimitably, 
 Turning His Back On Schubert And Helping Will Support Me To The Door. 
 The Feldwebel Stood Grinning While I Held To The Doorpost And They 
 Dragged brown To His Feet.  He Made No Offer To Help Us In any Way At 
 All, Nor Did Any Of The Sergeants. 
   
   
 There Was No Getting action From Brown.  He Was As Dead To The World As 
 A Piece Of Wood, And There Being No Other Obvious Solution Of The 
 Problem, Will Hoisted him Upon His Back And Carried him, He Snoring, 
 All The Way Home To Camp.  Fred hoisted and Carried me, For The Pain Of 
 My Wound When I Tried to Walk Was Unbearable. 
   
   
 We Reached camp Abreast And Were Challenged by The Sentries, Who Made A 
 Great Show Of Standing Guard.  They Took Brown And Threw Him On The Bed 
 In His Own Tent--Accepted fred'S Offer Of Silver Money--And Departed, 
 Marching Up-Street In their Heavy, Iron-Bound Military Boots With The 
 Swing and Swagger Only The Nubian In all The World Knows Just How To 
 Get Away With. 
   
   
 I Lay On The Bed in fred'S Tent,  And Then Kazimoto Came To Us, Hugely 
 Troubled about Something, Stirring The Embers Of The Fire Before The 
 Tent And Arranging The Lantern So That Its Rays Would Betray Any 
 Eavesdropper.  He Searched all The Shadows Thoroughly, Prodding Into 
 Them With A Stick, Before He Unburdened his Mind. 
   
   
 "Those Askaris Were Not Put Here To Guard Our Tents," He Told Us.  (The 
 Really Good Native Servant When Speaking Of His Master'S Property 
 Always Says Our, And Never Your.)  "As Soon As You Were Gone The Greeks 
 And The Goa Came.  They And The Askaris Questioned me.  It Was A Trick! 
  You Were Drawn Away On Purpose!  One By One--Two By Two--They 
 Questioned us All, But Particularly Me." 
   
   
 "What About?" Fred demanded. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 223 
 "About Our Business.  Why Are We Here.  What Will We Do.  What Do We 
 Know.  What Do I Know About You.  What Do You Know About Me.  Why Do I 
 Serve You.  How Did I Come To Take Service With You.  To What Place 
 Will We Travel Next, And When.  How Much Money Have We With Us.  Have 
 We Friends Or Acquaintances In muanza.  Do You, Bwana, Carry Any 
 Letters In your Pockets.  Of What Do You Speak When You Suppose No Man 
 Is Listening.  Bwana, My Heart Is Very Sad In me!  Those Greeks Tell 
 Lies, And The Germans Stir Trouble In a Big Pot Like The Witches!  I 
 Know The Germans!  I Am Nyamwezi.  I Was Born Not Far From Here, And 
 Ran Away As Soon As I Was Old Enough Because The Germans Shot My Father 
 And Let My Mother And Brothers Starve To Death.  I Did Not Starve, 
 Because One Of Them Took Me For A Servant;  But I Ran Away From Him. 
 My Heart Is Very Sad To Be In this Place!  They Ask What Of A Hoard Of 
 Ivory.  I Tell Them I Do Not Know, And They Threaten To Beat Me!  This 
 Place Is Bad!  Let Us Go Away To-Night!" 
   
   
 There Was No Sleep That Night For Any Of Us.  My Wound Hurt Too Much. 
 The Others Were Too Worried.  By The Light Of The Lantern In fred'S 
 Tent We Cooked up A Story To Tell That We Hoped would Induce The 
 Germans To Let Us Wander Where We Chose. 
   
   
 "Sure, They'Ll Watch Us!" Will Admitted.  "But As Our Only Real Reason 
 For Coming Down Here--Leaving Brown'S Cattle Out Of The Reckoning--Was 
 To Throw People Off The Scent, In what Way Are We Worse Off?  The Lake 
 Is Big Enough To Lose Ourselves In!  What Is It--Two Hundred and Fifty 
 Miles Long By As Many Broad?  D'You Mean We Can'T Give Their Sleuths 
 The Slip?  We Can'T Beat That For A Plan:  Let 'Em Keep On Thinking We 
 Know Where Tippoo Hid The Stuff.  If We Succeed in losing 'Em They'Ll 
 Think We'Re At Large In german East And Keep On Hunting For Us--Whereas 
 We'Ll Really Be Up In british East.  Let'S Send A Telegram In code To 
 Monty!" 
   
   
 Then Fred thought Of An Idea That In the End Solved our Biggest 
 Problem, Although We Did Not Think Much Of It At The Time. 
   
   
 "They May Refuse To Take A Telegram In code," He Said.  "It'S Likely 
 They'Ll Open Letters.  (We Can Try The Code, Of Course.  They'Ll 
 Probably Take Our Money, And Put Their Experts On Deciphering The 
 Message.  They'Ll Say It Was Lost If There Are Any Inquiries 
 Afterward.)  I Propose We Send A Straight-Out Cablegram Advising Monty 
 Of Our Whereabouts (They'Ll Let That Go Through) And Warning Him To Ask 
 For Letters At The Bank In mombasa Before He Does Anything Else." 
   
   
 "Yes, But--" Will Objected. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 224 
 "Wait!" Said Fred.  "I Haven'T Finished.  Then Write Two Letters:  One 
 Full Of Any Old Nonsense, To Be Sent In the Regular Way By Mail. 
 They'Ll Open That.  The Other To Go By Runner.  Kazimoto Can Find Us A 
 Runner.  He Knows These Wan-Yamwezi.  He Can Pick A Man Who'Ll Get 
 Through Without Fail." 
   
   
 We Could Think Of Nothing To Say Against The Plan.  The Argument That 
 The German Government Would Scarcely Stoop To Opening Private Mail Did 
 Not Seem To Hold Water When We Examined it, So We Wrote As Fred 
 Suggested--One Letter Telling Monty That We Hoped to Make Some 
 Arrangement With The Germans, And At All Events To Wait In german East 
 Until He Could Join Us--And The Other Telling Him The Real Facts At 
 Great Length, Laboriously Set Out In the Code We Had Agreed 
 Upon. 
   
   
 We Sealed the Second Letter In several Wrappers, And Sewed it Up 
 Finally In a Piece Of Waterproof Silk.  Then We Sent For Kazimoto And 
 Ordered him To Find The Sort Of Messenger We Needed. 
   
   
 "Send Me!" He Urged.  "I Will Start Now, Before It Is Light!  I Will 
 Hide By Day And Travel By Night Until I Reach The British Border!  Give 
 Me Only Enough Cooked food And My Pay And I Will Take The Letter 
 Without Fail!" 
   
   
 We Refused, For He Was Too Useful To Us.  He Begged again And Again To 
 Be Sent With The Letter, Promising Faithfully To Wait For Us Afterward 
 On The British Side Of The Border At Any Place We Should Name.  But We 
 Upbraided him For Cowardice, Ordered him To Find Another Messenger, And 
 Promised him He Need have No Fear Of Germans As Long As He Remained our 
 Servant. 
   
   
 Before High Noon We Would Each Have Given Many Years Of Kazimoto'S Pay 
 If Only We Could Have Recalled that Decision And Have Known That He Was 
 Speeding away From Muanza Toward A Border Where White Men Knew The Use 
 Of Mercy. 
   
   
 Just As The First Peep Of Dawn Began To Color The Sky Schubert Came 
 Swaggering Down-Street To Us, Wiping His Mouth With The Back Of His 
 Hand. 
   
   
 "How Have You Slept?" He Asked us, Laughing. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 225 
 We Answered something Or Other. 
   
   
 "I Did Not Trouble To Sleep!  I Stayed and Finished the Drinks.  I Have 
 Just Swallowed the Last Of The Beer!  Whoever Wants A Morning Drink 
 Must Wait For It Now Until The Overland Safari Comes!" 
   
   
 We Displayed no Interest.  Brown, The Only One Likely To Yearn For 
 Alcohol Before Breakfast, Snored in his Still. 
   
   
 "What Of It Now?  I Go Drill My Troops.  Parade Is Sharp!  There Remain 
 Twenty Minutes.  Come With Me Tell Your Secret At The Boma Now, Before 
 It Is Too Late!" 
   
   
 "Explain Why It Would Be Too Late After Breakfast!" Demanded fred. 
   
   
 "All Right," Said Schubert.  "I Will Tell You This Much.  There Will 
 Come A Launch This Morning From Kisumu In british East.  There Will Be 
 People On That Launch, One Of Whom Has Authority That Overrides That Of 
 The Commandant Of This Place.  The Commandant Desires To Know Your 
 Information--And Get The Credit For It--Before That Individual, Whose 
 Authority Is Higher, Comes.  Is That Clear?" 
   
   
 "Perfectly," Fred answered. 
   
   
 "See If This Is Clear, Too!" Cut In will.  "You Go And Ask Your 
 Commandant What Price He Offers For The Secret!  Nothing For Nothing! 
 Tell Him We'Re Not Afraid Of Him!" 
   
   
 "It Is None Of My Business To Tell Him Anything," Sneered schubert, 
 Spitting and Turning On His Heel.  He Swaggered out Of The 
 Camping-Ground And Up-Street Again, Leaving The Clear Impression Behind 
 Him That He Washed his Hands Of Us For Good And All. 
   
   
 "Let'S Watch Him Drill His Men," Said I.  "I'Ll Wait On The Hospital 
 Steps Until They Open The Place." 
   
   
 So We Ate A Scratch Breakfast And Fred and Will Helped me Up-Street, 
 Past Where The Jew Stood Blinking In the Morning Sun On The Steps Of 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 226 
 The D.O.A.G.  He Seemed to Be Saying Prayers, But Beckoned to Us. 
   
   
 "Trouble!" He Said.  "Trouble!  If You Have Any Frien'S Fetch 
 Them--Send For Them!" 
   
   
 "Can Yon Send A Letter For Us To British East?" Fred asked him. 
   
   
 "God Forbid!" He Jumped at The Very Thought, And Shrugged himself Like 
 A Man Standing Under A Water-Spout.  "What Would They Do To Me If I 
 Were Found Out?" 
   
   
 "What Is The Nature Of The Trouble?" Fred asked him. 
   
   
 "Ali, Who Should Tell!  Trouble, I Tell You, Trouble!  Zat Cursed 
 Schubert Sat Here Drinking Until Dawn.  I Heard Heem Say Many T'Ings! 
 Send For Your Friens!" 
   
   
 He Turned his Back On Us And Ran In.  There Was A Lieutenant Arrayed in 
 Spotless White With A Saber In glittering Scabbard Watching Us All From 
 The Boma Gate.  A Little Later That Morning We Knew Better Why The Jew 
 Fled indoors At Sight Of Him. 
   
   
 Schubert Was Standing In mid-Square With A Hundred askaris Lined up 
 Two-Deep In front Of Him.  There Were No Other Germans On Parade.  The 
 Corporals Were Nubians, And The Rest Of The Rank And File Either Nubian 
 Or Some Sort Of Sudanese.  He Was Haranguing Them In a Bastard Mixture 
 Of Swahili, Arabic, And German, They Standing Rigidly At Attention, 
 Their Rifles At The Present. 
   
   
 Not Content With The Effect Of His Words, He Strode Up Presently To A 
 Front-Rank Man And Hit Him In the Face With Clenched fist.  In the 
 Effort To Recover His Balance The Man Let His Rifle Get Out Of 
 Alignment.  Schubert Wrenched it From Him.  It Fell To The Ground.  He 
 Struck The Man, And When He Stooped to Pick The Rifle Up Kicked him In 
 The Face.  Then He Strode Down The Line And Beat Two Other Men For 
 Grinning.  All This The Lieutenant Watched without A Sign Of 
 Disapproval, Or Even Much Interest. 
   
   
 Meanwhile The Chain-Gang Emerged from The Boma Gate, Going Full-Pelt, 
 Fastened neck To Neck, The Chain Taut And Each Man Carrying a 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 227 
 Water-Jar.  The Minute They Had Crossed the Square Schubert Commenced 
 With Company Drill, And For Two Hours After That, With But One Interval 
 Of Less Than Five Minutes For Rest, He Kept Them Pounding The Gravel In 
 Evolution After Evolution--Manual Exercise At The Double--Skirmishing 
 Exercise--Setting Up Drill--Goose-Step, And All The Mechanical, 
 Merciless Precision Drill With Which The Germans Make Machines Of Men. 
   
   
 His Debauch Did Not Seem In the Least To Have Affected him, Unless To 
 Make His Temper More Violently Critical.  By Seven O'Clock The Sun Was 
 Beating Down On Him And Dazzling His Eyes From Over The Boma Wall.  The 
 Dust Rose Off The Square.  The Words Of Command Came Bellowing In swift 
 Succession From A Throat That Ought To Have Been Hard Put To It To 
 Whisper.  If Anything, He Grew More Active And Exacting as The Askaris 
 Wearied, And By The Time The Two Hours Were Up They Were Ready To A Man 
 To Drop. 
   
   
 But Not So He.  He Dismissed them, And Swaggered over To The 
 Marketplace To Hector And Bully The Natives Who Were Piling Their Wares 
 In The Shade Of The Great Grass Roof.  Then He Went Into The Boma To 
 Breakfast Just As A Sergeant In khaki Came Over And Unlocked the 
 Hospital Door.  I Followed the Sergeant In, But He Ordered me Out Again. 
   
   
 "I Have Come To See The Doctor," I Said. "I Need attention." 
   
   
 He Was Not One Of The Sergeants Who Had Been Drunk In the D.O.A.G. The 
 Night Before, But A Man Of A Higher Mental Type, Although No Less Surly. 
   
   
 "It Will Be For The Doctor To Say What You Need when He Has Seen You!" 
 He Answered, Turning His Back And Busying Himself About The Room.  Will 
 Translated, And I Limped out Again. 
   
   
 By And By The Doctor Came, And Passed me Sitting On The Steps Amid A 
 Throng Of Natives Who Seemed to Have All The Imaginable Kinds Of Sores. 
  He Took No Notice Of Me, But Sent Out The Sergeant To Inquire Why I 
 Had Not Stood Up As He Passed.  I Did Not Answer, And The Sergeant Went 
 In Again. 
   
   
 Fred by That Time Was Simply Blasphemous, Alternately Threatening To Go 
 In And Kick The Doctor, And Condemning Will'S Determination To Do The 
 Same Thing.     Finally We Decided to See The Matter Through Patiently, 
 And All Sat Together On The Steps Watching The Activity Of The Square. 
 There Was A Lot Going On--Bartering Of Skins And Hides--Counting Of 
 Crocodile Eggs, Brought In by Natives For Sake Of The Bounty Of A Few 
 Copper Coins The Hundred--A Cock-Fight In one Corner--The Carrying To 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 228 
 And Fro Of Bunches Of Bananas, Meat, And Grain In baskets;  And In and 
 Out Among It All Full Pelt In the Hot Sun Marched the Chain-Gang, Doing 
 The Township Dirty Work. 
   
   
 By And By Schubert Emerged from The Boma Gate Followed by Natives 
 Carrying a Table And A Soap-Box.  He Set These Under A Limb Of The 
 Great Baobab That Faced the Boma Gate Not Far From The Middle Of The 
 Square.  I Noticed then For The First Time That A Short Hempen Rope 
 Hung Suspended from The Largest Branch, With A Noose In the End.  The 
 Noose Was Not More Than Two Feet Below The Branch. 
   
   
 Schubert'S Consideration Of The Table'S Exact Position, And The Placing 
 Of The Soap-Box On The Table, Was Interrupted by The Arrival Of 
 Coutlass, His Greek Companion And The Goanese Arm In arm, Followed 
 Closely By Two Askaris Who Shouted angrily And Made A Great Show Of 
 Trying To Prevent Them.  One Of The Askaris Aimed his Rifle Absurdly At 
 Coutlass, Both Greeks And The Goanese Daring Him Gleefully To Pull The 
 Trigger. 
   
   
 They Purposely Came Close To Us, Not That We Showed signs Of Meaning To 
 Befriend Them.  They Were Simply Unable To Understand That There Are 
 Degrees Of Disgrace. To Coutlass All Victims Of Government Outrage 
 Ought Surely To Be More Than Friendly With Any One In conflict With The 
 Law.  Personal Quarrels Should Go For Nothing In face Of The Common 
 Wrong. 
   
   
 "There Is Going To Be A Hanging!" Coutlass Shouted to Us.  "They 
 Thought We Would Remain Quietly In camp With That Going On!  Give Us 
 Chairs!" He Called to Schubert.  "Provide Us A Place In the Front Row 
 Where We May See!" 
   
   
 Schubert Grinned.  He Returned to The Boma Yard And Presumably 
 Conferred with An Officer, For Presently He Came Out Again And Gave The 
 Greeks Leave To Stand Under The Tree, Provided they Would Return To 
 Camp Afterward.  Later Yet, Brown Came Along And Joined us On The 
 Steps, Looking Red-Eyed and Ridiculous. 
   
   
 "Goin' To Be A Hangin," He Announced.  "I Been Askin' Natives About It. 
  Black Man Stole The Condemned man'S Daughter An' Refused to Pay Cows 
 For Her Accordin' To Custom Or Anythin'--Said He Could Do What The 
 White Men Did An' Help Himself.  Father Of The Girl Took A Spear And 
 Settled the Thief'S Hash With It--Ran Him Through--Did A Clean Job. 
 Serve Him Right--Eh--What?  Germans Went An' Nabbed him, Though--Tried 
 Him In open Court--Goin' To Hang Him This Mornin' For Murder!  How Does 
 It Strike You?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 229 
 We Were Not Exactly In mood To Talk To Brown--In Fact, We Wished him 
 Anywhere But With Us, But He Thought Self Perfectly Welcome, And 
 Rambled on: 
   
   
 "Up In british East We Don'T Hang Black Men For Murder Unless It'S What 
 They Call An Aggravated case--Murder An' Robbery--Murder An' 
 Arson--Murder An' Rape.  Hang A White Man For Murderin' A Black Sure As 
 You'Re Sitting Here, An' Shoot A Black Man For Murderin' A White;  But 
 The Blacks Don'T Understand, So When They Kill One Another In such A 
 Case This, Why We Give 'Em A Short Jail Sentence An' A Good Lo Lecture, 
 An' Let 'Em Go Again.  These Folks Have It T'Other Way Round.  They 
 Never Hang A German, Whether He'S Guilty Or Not, But Hang A Poor Black 
 Man, What Doesn'T Understand, For Half O' Nothin'!" 
   
   
 A Great Crowd Began Gathering about The Tree, And Was Presently Driven 
 By Askaris With Whips Into A Mass On The Far Side Of The Tree From Us. 
 Whether Purposely Or Not, They Left A Clear View From The Hospital 
 Steps Of All That Should Happen.  Evidently Warning Had Been Sent Out 
 Broadcast, For The Inhabitants Of Village After Village Came Trooping 
 Into Town To Watch, Each Lot Led by Its Sultani In filthy Rags And The 
 Foolish Imitation Crown His Conquerors Had Supplied him At Several 
 Times Its Proper Price.  The Square Was A Dense Sea Of People Before 
 Nine O'Clock, And The Askaris Made The Front Few Hundreds Lie, And The 
 Next Rows Squat, In order That The Men And Women Behind Might See. 
   
   
 Then At Last Out Came The Victim With His Hands Tied behind Him And A 
 Bright Red blanket On His Loins.  He Was A Proud-Looking Fellow.  He 
 Halted a Moment Between His Guard Of German Sergeants And Eyed the 
 Crowd, And Us, And The Tree, And The Noose.  Then He Looked down On The 
 Ground And Appeared to Take No Further Interest. 
   
   
 The Sergeants Took Him By The Arms And Led him Along To The Table 
 Between Them.  Out Came The Commandant Then, In snow-White Uniform, 
 With His Saber Polished until It Shone--All Spruced up For The 
 Occasion, And Followed by A Guard Of Honor Consisting Of Lieutenant, 
 Two Sergeants, And Six Black Askaris. 
   
   
 There Was A Chair By The Table.  At Sight Of The Commandant The 
 Sergeants Made Their Victim Use That As A Step By Which To Mount The 
 Table And Soap-Box, And There He Stood Eying His Oppressors As Calmly 
 As If He Were Witnessing a Play.  A Murmur Arose Among The Crowd.  A 
 Number Of Natives Called to Him By Name, But He Took No Notice After 
 That One First Steady Gaze. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 230 
 "They'Re Sayin' Good-By To Him," Said Brown, Breathing In my Ear. 
 "They'Re Telling Him They Won'T Forget Him!" 
   
   
 The Crack Of Askaris' Whips Falling On Head And Naked shoulders Swiftly 
 Reduced the Crowd To Silence.  Then The Commandant Faced them All, And 
 Made A Speech With That Ash-Can Voice Of His--First In german, Then In 
 The Nyamwezi Tongue.  Will Translated to Us Sentence By Sentence, The 
 Doctor Standing On The Top Step Behind Us Smiling approval.  He Seemed 
 To Think We Would Be Benefited by The Lecture Just As Much As The 
 Natives. 
   
   
 It Was Awful Humbug That The Commandant Reeled off To His Silent 
 Audience--Hypocrisy Garbed in paternal Phrases, And Interlarded with 
 Buncombe About Germany'S Mission To Bring Happiness To Subject Peoples. 
   
   
 "Above All," He Repeated again And Again, "The Law Must Be Enforced 
 Impartially--The Good, Sound, German Law That Knows No Fear Or Favor, 
 But Governs All Alike!" 
   
   
 When He Had Finished he Turned to The Culprit. 
   
   
 "Now," He Demanded, "Do You Know Why You Are To Be Hanged?" 
   
   
 There Was A Moment'S Utter Silence.  The Crowd Drew In its Breath, 
 Seeming To Know In advance That Some Brave Answer Was Forthcoming.  The 
 Man On The Table With His Hands Behind Him Surveyed the Crowd Again 
 With The Gaze Of Simple Dignity, Looked down On The Commandant, And 
 Raised his Voice.  It Was An Unexpected, High, Almost Falsetto Note, 
 That In the Silence Carried all Across The Square. 
   
   
 "I Am To Die," He Said, "Because I Did Right!  My Enemy Did What German 
 Officers Do.  He Stole My Young Girl.  I Killed him, As I Hope All You 
 Germans May Be Killed!  But Hope No Longer Gathers Fruit In this Land!" 
   
   
 "Ah-H-H-H!" The Crowd Sighed in unison. 
   
   
 "Good Man!" Exploded fred, And The Doctor Tried to Kick Him From 
 Behind--Not Hard, But Enough To Call His Attention To The Proprieties. 
 His Toe Struck Me Instead, And When I Looked up Angrily He Tried to 
 Pretend He Was Not Aware Of What He Had Done. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 231 
 Under The Trees The Commandant Flew Into A Rage Such I Have Seldom 
 Seen.  Each Land Has A Temper Of Its Own, An The White Man'S Anger 
 Varies In inverse Ratio With His Nearness To The Equator.  But Furor 
 Teutonicus Transplanted is The Least Controllable Least Dignified, 
 Least Admirable That There Is.  And That Man'S Passion Was The Apex Of 
 Its Kind. 
   
   
 His Beard Spread, As A Peacock Spreads Its Tail.  His Eyes Blazed.  His 
 Eyebrows Disappeared under The Brim Of His White Helmet, And His 
 Clenched fists Burst The White Cotton Gloves.  He Half-Drew His 
 Saber--Thought Better Of That, And Returned it.  There Was An Askari 
 Standing Near With Kiboko In hand To Drive Back The Crowd Should Any 
 Press Too Closely.  He Snatched the Whip And Struck The Condemned man 
 With It, As High Up As He Could Reach, Making a Great Welt Across His 
 Bare Stomach.  The Man Neither Winced nor Complained. 
   
   
 "For Those Words," The Commandant Screamed at Him In german, "You Shall 
 Not Die In comfort!  For That Insolence, Mere Hanging Is Too Good!" 
   
   
 Then He Calmed himself A Little, And Repeated the Words In the Native 
 Tongue, Explaining To The Crowd That German Dignity Should Be Upheld At 
 All Costs. 
   
   
 "Fetch Him Down From There," He Ordered. 
   
   
 Schubert Sprang On The Table And Knocked the Condemned man Off It With 
 A Blow Of His Fist.  With Hands Bound Behind Him The Poor Fellow Had No 
 Power Of Balance, And Though He Jumped clear He Fell Face-Downward, 
 Skinning His Cheek On The Gravel.  The Commandant Promptly Put A Foot 
 On His Neck And Pinned him Down. 
   
   
 "Flog Him!" He Ordered. "Two Hundred lashes!" 
   
   
 It Was Done In silence, Except For The Corporal'S Labored breathing and 
 The Commandant'S Incessant Sharp Commands To "Beat 
 Harder--Harder--Harder.  A Sergeant Stood By Counting.  The Crack Of 
 The Whip Divided up The Silence Into Periods Of Agony. 
   
   
 When The Count Was Done The Victim Was Still Conscious.  Schubert And A 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 232 
 Sergeant Dragged him To His Feet, And Hauled him To The Table.  Four 
 Other Men--Two Sergeants And Two Natives--Passed a Rope Round The Table 
 Legs.  Schubert Lifted the Victim By The Elbows So That His Head Could 
 Pass Through The Noose, And When That Was Accomplished the Man Had To 
 Stand On Tiptoe On The Soap-Box In order To Breathe At All. 
   
   
 "All Ready!" Announced schubert, And Jumped off With A Laugh, His White 
 Tunic Bloody From Contact With The Victim'S Tortured back. 
   
   
 "Los!" Roared the Commandant 
   
   
 The Men Hauled on The Rope.  Table And Soap-Box Came Tumbling away, And 
 The Victim Spun In the Air On Nothing, Spinning Round, And Round, And 
 Round--Slower And Slower And Slower--Then Back The Other Way Round 
 Faster And Faster. 
 They Say Hanging Is A Merciful Death--That The Pressure Of Rope On Two 
 Arteries Produces Anesthesia, But Few Are Reported to Have Come Back To 
 Tell Of The Experience.  At Any Rate, As Is Not The Case With Shooting, 
 It Is Easy To Know When The Victim Is Really Dead. 
   
   
 For Seconds That Seemed minutes--For Minutes That Seemed hours The Poor 
 Wretch Spun, His Elbows Out, His Knees Up, His Tongue Out, His Face 
 Wrinkled into Tortured shapes, And His Toes Pointed upward So Sharply 
 That They Almost Touched his Shins.  Then Suddenly The Toes Turned 
 Downward And The Knees Relapsed.  The Corpse Hung Limp, And The Crowd 
 Sighed miserably, To The Last Man, Woman And Child, Turning Its Back On 
 What To Them Must Have Symbolized german Rule. 
   
   
 They Left The Corpse Hanging There.  It Was To Be There Until Evening, 
 Some One Said, For An Example To Frequenters Of The Market-Place.  The 
 Crowd Trailed away, None Glancing Back.  The Pattering Of Feet Ceased. 
 The Market-Place Across The Square Resumed its Hum And Activity.  Then 
 A Native Orderly Came Down The Steps And Touched me On The Elbow.  I 
 Struggled to My Feet And Limped after Him Up The Steps. 
   
   
 Practically At The Mercy Of The Doctor, I Made Up My Mind To Be Civil 
 To Him Whether That Suited me Or Not.  I Rather Expected he Would Come 
 To Meet Me, Perhaps Help Me To Chair, And I Wondered how, In my 
 Ignorance Of German, I Should Contrive To Answer His Questions. 
   
   
 But I Need not Have Worried.  I Did Not Even See Him.  He Had Left By 
 The Back Door, And The Orderly Washed the Wound And Changed my 
 Bandages.  That Was All.  There Was No Charge For The Bandages, And The 
 Orderly Was Gentle Now That His Master'S Back Was Turned. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 7 (The Darkness Comprehended It Not) Pg 233 
 "Didn'T He Leave Word When He Would See Me?" I Asked. 
   
   
 "Habandh!" He Answered--Meaning, "He Did Not--There Is Not--There Is 
 Nothing Doing!" 
   
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 234 
 We Were An Ignorant People.  Out Of A Gloom We Came 
 Hungering, Striving, Feasting--Vanishing Into The Same. 
 Came To Us Your Foreloopers, Told Us The Gloom Was Bad, 
 Spoke Of The Light That Might Be--Simply It Could Be Had - 
 Knowledge And Wealth And Freedom, Plenty And Peace And Play, 
 And At All The Price Of Obedience. "Listen And Learn And Obey," 
 We Were Told, "And The Gloom Shall Be Lifted.  Ignorance Surely 
 Is Shame." 
 We Listened to Your Foreloopersy Till Presently Cadis* Came. 
   
   
 We Were An Ignorant People.  Our Law Was "An Eye For An Eye," 
 And He Who Wronged should Right The Wrong, And He Who Stole Should Die - 
 Bad Law The Cadis Told Us, Based on The Fall Of Man; 
 And They Set Us To Building Law-Courts On The Pangermanic       Plan-- 
 Courts Where The Gloom Of Ages Should Be Pierced, Said They,    With 
 Light 
 And Scientific Theory Displace Wrong Views Of Right. 
 The Cadis' Law Was Writ In books That Only They Could Read, 
 But What Should We Know Of The Strings To That?  'Twas Gloom    When We 
 Agreed. 
   
   
 We Were An Ignorant People.  The Offizieren Came 
 To Lend To Law Eye, Tooth, And Claw And So Enforce The Same. 
 Now Nought Are The Tribal Customs;  Free Speech Is Under Ban; 
 Displaced are Misconceptions That Were Based on Fallen Man, 
 And Our Gloom Has Gone In darkness Of The Risen German'S Night, 
 Nor Is There Salt Of Mercy Lest It Sap The Hold Of Might. 
 They Strike--We May Not Answer, Nor Dare We Ask Them Why. 
 We Sold Ourselves To Supermen.  If We Rebel, We Die. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 235 
 ----------------- 
 * Cadi--Judge. 
 ----------------- 
   
   
 I Sat Down Once More On The Hospital Steps, And Listened while Fred and 
 Will Relieved themselves Of Their Opinions About German Manners. 
 Nothing Seemed likely To Relieve Me.  I Had Marched a Hundred miles, 
 Endured the Sickening Pain, And Waited an Extra Night At The End Of It 
 All Simply On The Strength Of Anticipation.  Now That The Surgeon Would 
 Not See Me, Hope Seemed gone.  I Could Think Of Nothing But To Go And 
 Hide Somewhere, Like A Wounded animal. 
   
   
 But There Were Two More Swift Shocks In store, And No Hiding-Place. 
 The Path To The Water-Front Led past Us Directly Along The Southern 
 Boma Wall.  Before Fred and Will Had Come To An End Of Swearing They 
 Saw Something That Struck Them Silent So Suddenly That I Looked up And 
 Saw, Too. Not That I Cared very Much.  To Me It Seemed merely One Last 
 Super-Added piece Of Evidence That Life Was Not Worth While. 
   
   
 Plainly The Launch Had Come From British East, Of Which Schubert Had 
 Spoken.  Hand In hand From The Water-Front, Followed by The Obsequious 
 Schubert, All Smiles And Long Black Whip (For The Chain-Gang Trailed 
 After With The Luggage, And Needed to Be Overawed), Walked professor 
 Schillingschen And Lady Isobel Saffren Waldon.  They Seemed in love--Or 
 At Any Rate The Professor Did, For He Ogled and Smirked like A Bearded 
 Gargoyle;  And She Made Such Play Of Being Charmed by His Grimaces That 
 The Syrian Maid Fell Behind To Hide Her Face. 
   
   
 None Of Us Spoke.  We Watched them.  Personally I Did Not Mind The 
 Feeling That The Worst Had Happened at Last.  I Was Incapable Of 
 Sounding Further Depths Of Gloom--Too Full Of Pain Bodily To Suffer 
 Mentally From Threats Of What Might Yet Be.  But The Other Two Looked 
 Miserable--More So Because Fred'S Bearded chin Perked up So Bravely, 
 And Will Set His Jaw Like A Rock. 
   
   
 Not One Of Us Had Said A Word When The Biggest Askari We Had Seen Yet 
 Strode Up To Us--Saluted--And Gave Fred a Sealed envelope.  It Was 
 Written In english, Addressed to Us Three By Name (Although Our Names 
 Were Wrongly Spelled).  We Were Required to Present Ourselves At The 
 Court-House At Once, Reason Not Given.  The Letter Was Signed 
 "Liebenkrantz,--Lieutenant." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 236 
 The Askari Waited for Us.  I Suppose It Would Not Be Correct To Say We 
 Were Under Arrest, But The Enormous Black Man Made It Sufficiently 
 Obvious That He Did Not Intend Returning To The Court Without Us.  The 
 Court-House Was Not More Than Two Hundred yards Away.  As We Turned 
 Toward It We Saw Lady Saffren Waldon Being Helped into The Commandant'S 
 Litter, Borne By Four Men, The Commandant Himself Superintending The 
 Ceremony With A Vast Deal Of Bowing and Chatter, And Professor 
 Schillingschen Looking On With An Air Of Owning Litter, Porters, 
 Township, Boma, And All.  As We Turned our Backs On Them They Started 
 Off Toward The Neat White Dwelling On The Hill. 
   
   
 The Court Was A Round, Grass- Roofed affair, With White-Washed walls Of 
 Sun-Dried brick.  For About Four-Fifths Of The Circumference The Wall 
 Was Barely Breast-High, The Roof Being Supported on Wooden Pillars 
 Bricked into The Wall, As Well As By The Huge Pole That Propped it Up 
 Umbrella-Wise In the Center. 
   
   
 The Remaining Fifth Of The Wall Continued up As High As The Roof, 
 Forming a Back To The Platform.  Facing The Platform Was The Entrance, 
 And On Either Side Benches Arranged in rows Followed the Curve Of The 
 Wall.  There Was A Long Table On The Platform, At Which Sat The 
 Lieutenant Who Had Summoned us, With A Sergeant Seated on Either Hand. 
 The Sergeants Were Acting as Court Clerks, Scribbling Busily On Sheets 
 Of Blue Paper, And In books. 
   
   
 Behind The Lieutenant, In a Great Gilt Frame On The White-Washed wall, 
 Was A Full-Length Portrait Of The Kaiser In general'S Uniform.  The 
 Kaiser Was Depicted scowling, His Gloved hands Resting On A Saber 
 Almost As Ferocious-Looking as The One The Lieutenant Kept Winding His 
 Leg Around. 
   
   
 All The Benches Were Crowded with Spectators, Prisoners, Witnesses, And 
 Litigants.  Outside, At Least Two Hundred arabs, Indians, And Natives 
 Leaned with Elbows On The Wall And Gazed at The Scene Within.  The 
 Lieutenant Glared, But Otherwise Took No Notice Of Our Entry; He Gave 
 No Order, But One Of The Two Sergeants Came Down From The Platform And 
 Kicked half A Dozen Natives Off The Front Bench To Make Room For Us. 
   
   
 We Were Mistaken In supposing Our Case Would Be Called first, Or Even 
 Among The First.  The Floor In the Midst Of The Court Was Clear Except 
 For A Long Single Line Of Natives And Six Askari Corporals, Each With A 
 Whip In his Hand.  It Was Evident At Once That These Natives Were All 
 Ahead Of Us, Even If Those On The Benches Were Not To Be Heard And 
 Dealt With Before Our Turn Came. 
   
   
 "Look At The Far End Of The Line!" Whispered fred. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 237 
 Lo And Behold Kazimoto, Looking Rather Drawn And Gray, But Standing 
 Bravely, Looking Neither To The Right Nor Left.  I Judged he Knew We 
 Were In court--He Could Hardly Have Failed to Notice Our Coming In--But 
 He Sturdily Refused to Turn His Head And See Us. 
   
   
 "What Has He Done?" I Wondered. 
   
   
 "Nothing More Than Told Some Heinie To Go To Hell--You Can Bet Your 
 Boots!" Said Will. 
   
   
 The Lieutenant Was In no Hurry To Enlighten Us.  Our Boy Stood At The 
 Wrong End Of The Line To Be Taken First.  The Lieutenant Called a Name, 
 And Two Great Askaris Pounced on The Trembling Native At The Other End 
 And Dragged him Forward, Leaving Him Standing alone Before The Desk. 
   
   
 "Silence!" The Lieutenant Shouted, And The Court Became Still As Death. 
   
   
 He Had A Voice As Mean As A Hyena'S--A Voice That Matched his Face. 
 The Insolent, Upturned twist Of His Fair Mustache Showed both Corners 
 Of A Thin-Lipped mouth.  He Had The Prussian Head, Shaped square 
 Whichever Way You Viewed it.  There Was Strength In the 
 Jaw-Bones--Strength In the Deep-Set Bright Eyes--Strength In the 
 Shoulders That Were Square As Box-Corners Without Any Padding--Strength 
 In The Lean Lithe Figure;  But It Was Always Brute Strength.  There Was 
 No Moral Strength Whatever In the Restless Fidgeting--The Savage 
 Winding and Unwinding Of His Left Foot Around The Saber Scabbard, Or 
 The Attitude, Leaning Forward Over The Table, Of Petulant Pugnacity. 
 And The Cruel Voice Was As Weak As The Hand Was Strong With Which He 
 Rapped on The Table. 
   
   
 He Questioned the Boy In front Of Him Sharply--Told Him He Stood 
 Charged with Theft--And Demanded an Answer. 
   
   
 "With Theft Of What Thing, And Whose Thing?" 
   
   
 The Answer Was Bold.  The Trembling Had Ceased.  Now That He Faced 
 Nemesis The Strength Of Native Fatalism Came To His Rescue, Bolstering 
 Up The Pride That Every Uncontaminated nyamwezi Owns.  He Was Not More 
 Than Seventeen Years Old, But He Stood There At Last Like A Veteran At 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 238 
 Bay. 
   
   
 "Put Him Down And Beat Him!" Ordered the Lieutenant. 
   
   
 "Impudent Answers To This Court Shall Always Be Soundly Punished!  Call 
 The Next Case While That One Is Being Taught Good Manners. 
   
   
 A Woman Was Stood In front Of The Line, Fidgety With Fear, In doubt 
 Whether To Lay Her Suckling Baby On The Bench Before She Faced military 
 Justice.  She Laid It On The Floor At Her Feet, Hesitated, And Then 
 Picked it Up Again And Wrapped it In a Corner Of The Red blanket That 
 Constituted her Only Dress. 
   
   
 "Take That Brat Away From Her!" The Lieutenant Ordered.  "She Must Pay 
 Attention To Me.  With That In her Arms She Will Only Think Of 
 Mothering!" 
   
   
   
 An Askari Seized the Baby By The Arm And Leg And Gave It With A Laugh 
 To Another Woman To Hold, Its Mother Whimpering With Fright Until She 
 Saw It Safely Nestled. 
   
   
 "Quick, Now!  What About This One?" 
   
   
 It Seemed there Was No Charge Against Her.  The Two Sergeants Searched 
 Through The Piles Of Blue Sheets In vain. 
   
   
 "Then What The Devil Is She Here For?  What Do You Want, You?" 
   
   
 The Trembling Woman Pointed to Her Baby, But Was Dumb.  It Needed 
 Courage To Answer That Lieutenant, And The Crack--Crack--Crack Of A 
 Thick Kiboko Descending at Measured intervals On The Naked back Of The 
 Boy Who Had Answered boldly Was No Help Toward Reassurance. 
   
   
 "Speak!" The Lieutenant Ordered, "Or I Shall Have You Compelled to 
 Speak!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 239 
 She Burst Into Sudden Volubility.  The Dam Once Down, She Poured forth 
 A Catalogue Of Wrongs That Seemed endless, Switching Off From One 
 Dialect To Another And At Intervals Inserting, Apropos Apparently Of 
 Nothing, The Few Words Of German She Had Picked up.  The Lieutenant 
 Yelled for An Interpreter, And A Nyamwezi Who Knew German Rose From The 
 Front Bench And Came And Stood Beside Her. 
   
   
 "That Baby Is A White Man'S," He Explained. 
   
   
 "What Does She Want?" 
   
   
 "She Says The White Man Is The Bwana Dakitari (The Doctor!)." 
   
   
 "Oh!  Then I Am Glad She Came Here.  It Is Time These Loose Women Were 
 Taught A Lesson!  They Tell The Same Tale.  They Say A White Man Passed 
 Through The Village, Gave Their Father A Present, And Carried them Off. 
  Is That Her Tale, Too?" 
   
   
 "Yes." 
   
   
 "Well--What Of It?  The Father Agreed at The Time When He Accepted the 
 Present, Didn'T He?  The Consequence Is A Baby--Not For The First Time! 
  Instead Of Going Back To Her Village, She Comes Here And Tries To 
 Blackmail The Officer!  She Is Young.  It'S The First Time She Has Been 
 In This Court.  This Time I Will Be Lenient.  One Hundred lashes!" 
   
   
 The Interpreter Translated, And The Woman Screamed.  An Askari Seized 
 Her By The Shoulders.  She Clung To Him, But He Threw Her To The 
 Ground, And Another One Tore Off The Blanket That Would Have Deadened 
 The Blows To Some Extent.  She Begged, And Clung To Their Feet, But The 
 Blows Began To Rain On Her, And Presently She Lay Still, Her Breasts 
 Flattened against The Earth Floor, Her Mouth Full Of Dust, And Her 
 Naked body Paralyzed by Fear Of The Descending Lash. 
   
   
 "Now Bring Up Number One Again!" The Lieutenant Ordered. 
   
   
 The Askaris Ceased from Flogging Him.  One Of Them Kicked him To His 
 Feet, And He Resumed his Stand In front Of The Lieutenant, Looking Up 
 At Him As Proudly As Ever, For All That His Back Was Bruised and Bloody. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 240 
 "Did You Steal Or Did You Not?" Asked the Lieutenant. 
   
   
 "Steal What From Whom?" 
   
   
 "Oh, Go On Beating Him! Next Case!" 
   
   
 The Next Man Escaped the Whip, But His Witnesses Were Less 
 Fortunate.  He Brought Two Men And A Woman With Him To Prove An Alibi 
 On A Charge Of Attempted theft, And The Glibness Of Their Answers 
 Convinced the Lieutenant They Were Lying.  In the Absence Of All 
 Evidence For The Prosecution Except The Unsupported word Of A Police 
 Askari Who Admitted a Personal Grudge Against The Defendant, The 
 Lieutenant Resorted to The Whip To Change The Witnesses' Convictions, 
 But Without Avail. 
   
   
 The Woman Yelled under The Lash Like A Demented thing, But, Far From 
 Withdrawing Her Statements, Tried to Spit In the Lieutenant'S Face When 
 Jerked to Her Feet And Stood Again Before Him--An Impossible Feat 
 Because The Platform On Which He Sat At The Table Was Too High.  He Had 
 Her Beaten A Second Time For Spitting. 
   
   
 The Next Man Was A Fat Baganda From British Territory, Charged with 
 Trading Without A License.  He Pleaded ignorance Of The Law, And Denied 
 Having Traded.  He Was Flogged for Telling Lies In court, And Changed 
 His Testimony Under The Lash, Whereat He Was Promptly Sentenced to A 
 Hundred and Fifty Lashes And A Month On The Chain-Gang.  Under The Lash 
 A Second Time, He Recanted--Swore That His First Statements Had Been 
 True And That He Had Done No Trading--A Mistake In tactics That Only 
 Caused the Tale Of Lashes To Be Increased by Fifty And The Term On The 
 Chain-Gang To Be Doubled. 
   
   
 "You Must Learn That The Methods Taught You On British Territory Are Of 
 No Use Here!" Remarked the Lieutenant. 
   
   
 By The Time Kazimoto Was Called and Stood Out Alone In front Of Him The 
 Lieutenant Was In a Boiling Rage, And The Floor Of The Court Was 
 Actually Crowded by Prone Natives Being Beaten.  Extra Askaris Had Been 
 Sent For In order That Proceedings Might Not Be Delayed, And The 
 Audience Could Scarcely Hear The Evidence And Sentences Because Of The 
 Crack Of Whips And The Moans Of Victims. (Not That They All Moaned by 
 Any Means.  By Far The Most Of Them Submitted to The Torture In grim 
 Proud Silence:  But The Few Who Did Make A Noise--Especially The 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 241 
 Women--Made Lots Of It.) 
   
   
 As Kazimoto Faced the Lieutenant He Turned once And Looked at Us.  His 
 Eyes Sought Fred'S. 
   
   
 "Oh, Bwana!" He Said--And Now For The First Time We Learned why He Had 
 Chosen Fred to Be His Particular Master.  "I Have Been Faithful! 
 Stroke, Then, That Beard Of Yours As Bwana Courtney, My Former Master, 
 Used to Stroke His.  Then We Shall Both Know What To Do!" 
   
   
 Fred stroked his Beard Promptly, For The Man Needed comfort, Not 
 Ridicule:  But The Concession To His Superstition Did None Of Us Any 
 Good. 
   
   
 "Face This Way!" The Lieutenant Shouted at Him.  "You Are Charged with 
 Being a Deserter From German Service.  Also With Giving Information To 
 Foreigners.  Also With Serving Foreigners In their Effort To Exploit 
 The Country, And With Refusing To Give Proper Answers When Questioned 
 By Those In authority.  Do You Understand?" 
   
   
 "No," Said Kazimoto In the Most Melancholy Tone I Ever Heard From Him. 
   
   
 "Are You A Nyamwezi?  Now Don'T Dare To Lie To Me!" 
   
   
 "Yes." 
   
   
 "You Were Born In this Country?" 
   
   
 "Yes." 
   
   
 "Then You Belong In this Country!" 
   
   
 "I Belong Where My Master Takes Me.  My Spirit Is Good.  I Am A True 
 Man," Kazimoto Answered. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 242 
 "Your Spirit Is Rotten!  You Are A Traitor!  What Do You Mean By 
 Talking To Me Of Your Master, You Reptile!  Your Master Is The German 
 Government, Of Which His Majesty The Kaiser Is Supreme Overlord!  There 
 Is A Picture Of Your Master!"  He Pointed with A Thumb Over His 
 Shoulder To The Full-Length Atrocity In oils Behind Him.  "Salute It!" 
   
   
 The Boy Obeyed. 
   
   
 "Answer Now!  Who Is Your Master?" 
   
   
 Kazimoto Hesitated. 
   
   
 "Answer, I Order You!" 
   
   
 He Turned and Pointed a Finger At Fred, Who Nodded. 
   
   
 "That English Bwana Is My Master," He Said Stoutly.  It Was A Forlorn 
 Hope, Though.  He Did Not Seem To Believe That The Statement Of Fact 
 Would Do Him Any Good. 
   
   
 Fred jumped to His Feet. 
   
   
 "That Is Perfectly Correct," He Said In english.  "The Boy Is My 
 Servant, Engaged on British Territory, Under A Contract For Wages To Be 
 Paid In english Money.  He Is To Be Paid Off In british East At The End 
 Of My Journey." 
   
   
 "Who Asked you To Speak?" Demanded the Lieutenant Angrily, Sitting Up 
 Like A Startled scorpion.  "Do You Not Know This Is A Court?" 
   
   
 "It Looks Like A Shambles!" Fred answered, Glancing To Right And Left 
 And Indicating The Victims Of The Whip Writhing In the Name Of German 
 Justice. 
   
   
 "Shut Up, You Fool!" Counseled will In a Stage Whisper, But Either Fred 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 243 
 Did Not Hear Him, Or Was Too Worked up To Care. 
   
   
 "Silence! Sit Down!" 
   
   
 "I Warn You!" Fred answered.  "That Boy Has Claimed british Protection. 
  I Shall See He Has It!" 
   
   
 Then He Sat Down.  The Lieutenant Glared at Kazimoto, The Glare 
 Changing To A Cold Grin As He Realized how Fully We Were All At His 
 Mercy For The Moment. 
   
   
 "You Are Sentenced," He Said, "To Two Hundred lashes For Making 
 Impudent Answers To The Court, And To Six Months On The Chain-Gang For 
 Deserting From This Country And Entering Foreign Service.  Further 
 Evidence Against You Will Be Assembled in the Meanwhile, And Other 
 Charges Against You Will Be Tried on Completion Of The Chain-Gang 
 Sentence!" 
   
   
 "I Protest!" Shouted fred, Jumping Up Again.  "I Give Notice Of Appeal 
 To Whatever Higher Court There Is.  I Am Ready To Give Bonds!" 
   
   
 "What Does This Delay Mean?" Snapped the Lieutenant.  "Put Him Down At 
 Once And Lay The Lashes On!" 
   
   
 The Unfortunate Kazimoto Was Pounced on By Two Askaris And Thrown 
 Face-Downward On The Floor.  One Of Them Tore Off His Clothes, Ripping 
 Up His Good English Jacket. 
   
   
 "Did You Hear My Protest?" Shouted fred.  "Did You Hear My Notice Of 
 Appeal?" 
   
   
 "I Did," Said The Lieutenant.  "Appeals Are Heard At The Coast.  You 
 Must Give Notice By Mail, And Receive An Acknowledgment From The Higher 
 Military Court Before I Grant Stay Of Execution.  Lay On The Lashes!" 
   
   
 "I Will Hold You Personally Liable For This Outrage," Fred told Him, 
 "If It Costs Me All My Money And All The Rest Of My Years!  I Defy You 
 To Continue!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 244 
 "You Have Yourself To Blame!" The Lieutenant Grinned.  "But For Your 
 Uninvited interruption The Nyamwezi Would Have Had A Better Hearing! 
 Lay Those Lashes On Harder And More Slowly!" 
   
   
 Kazimoto Was Taking His Gruel Like A Man.  Two Askaris Were Beating 
 Him.  The Blows Fell At Random Anywhere Below The Neck And Above The 
 Heels, Raising a Great Welt Where They Did Not Actually Cut The Skin. 
 He Had Buried his Face In his Forearms, And Will Had Gone To Stand Near 
 Him, Stooping Down To Encourage Him With Any Words At All That Might 
 Seem To Serve. 
   
   
 "Stick It Out, Kazi!  We'Ll Stand By!  We Won'T Leave You Down Here! 
 Remember You'Ve Got Friends Who Won'T Desert You!" 
   
   
 Probably In his Agony Kazimoto Did Not Understand A Word Of It, But The 
 Lieutenant Did,--And Swiftly Took Steps To Interfere. 
   
   
 "Call The Europeans' Cases Next!" He Shouted, And Promptly The German 
 Sergeants Stepped down From The Platform To Marshal Us In line.  The 
 Lieutenant Went Through The Form Of Studying The Blue Papers, And 
 Called out Our Names.  That Of Brown Was Included, But Brown Was Not In 
 Court And We Were Kept Standing There Until He Had Been Fetched from 
 His Tent.  He Had Retired immediately After The Hanging To Sleep Off 
 The Effects Of His Debauch, And Being Now Deprived of That Luxury 
 Arrived between Two Askaris In a Volcanic Temper.  He Insulted the 
 Lieutenant To Begin With. 
   
   
 "A Diet O' Beer An' Sausage Don'T Seem To Have Filled you Full O' Good 
 Manners, Do It?" 
   
   
 The Lieutenant Scowled, But For The Moment Chose To Ignore The 
 Pleasantry. 
   
   
 "You People Are Charged," He Said, "With Entering German Territory 
 Otherwise Than By A Regular Road And Without Reporting at A Customs 
 Station.  Further, With Intending To Defraud The Customs--With Carrying 
 And Possessing arms Without A License--With Being In possession Of 
 Ammunition Without A Permit--With Shooting Game Without A License--With 
 Filibustering--With Intentional Homicide, In that You Shot And Killed 
 Certain Men Of The Masai Tribe Within German Territory--With Wandering 
 At Large Without Permits And With Felonious Intent;  And Last, And This 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 245 
 Is The Most Serious Charge, With Being Spies Within The Military 
 Meaning Of That Term.  Do You Plead Guilty Or Not Guilty?" 
   
   
 We Were Dumb.  Even The Crack Of The Heavy Whips On Poor Kazimoto'S 
 Skin Ceased to Make Impression On Us.  Suffering already From My Wound 
 To The Point Of Nausea, I Actually Reeled before This New Deluge Of 
 Trouble, And Had To Hold On To Fred and Will.  They Each Put An Arm 
 Under Mine.  It Was Brown Who Spoke And Stole From Our Sails What 
 Little Wind There Might Have Been. 
   
   
 "Decline To Plead!" He Shouted boisterously.  "You'Re No Judge, You'Re 
 A Pirate!  You'Re Not Fit To Try Natives, Let Alone White Men!  You'Re 
 A Disgrace, That'S What You Are!  All You'Re Fit For Is To Make A 
 Decent Fellow Glad He Needn'T Know You!" 
   
   
 "Silence!" Roared the Lieutenant, Banging On The Table With His Open 
 Palm--Then With His Fist--Then With A Mallet. 
   
   
 "Silence Yourself!" Retorted brown As Soon As The Hammering Ceased. 
 "You Ought To Be Ashamed o' Yourself!  Your Court'S A Bally Disgrace, 
 An' You'Re The Worst Thing In it!  You And Your Kaiser Can Go To Hell, 
 And Be Damned to Both Of You!" 
   
   
 "One Month In jail For Contempt Of Court And Majestaets-Beleidigung!" 
 Snapped the Lieutenant. "Take Him Away!" 
   
   
 Quite Clearly That Was Not The First Time That A White Man Had Been 
 Imprisoned in muanza.  There Was No Hesitation About The Way In which 
 An Askari Seized brown'S Wrists Or A Sergeant Snapped the Handcuffs. 
 He Was Hustled out Expostulating, Kicked on The Shins By The Sergeant 
 When He Faced about To Argue, And Shoved into A Run By Both Sergeant 
 And Askari. 
   
   
 "You Others Would Better Be Careful What You Say!" Said The Lieutenant. 
   
   
 "I'Ve A Mind To Share Brown'S Cell!" Said Will, But The Lieutenant 
 Affected not To Hear That. 
   
   
 "Since You Refuse To Plead In this Court, You Shall Be Held Until The 
 Arrival Of Major Schunck From The Coast.  Your Arms And Ammunition Are 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 246 
 To Be Handed over To The Askaris, Who Will Be Sent To The Rest-Camp To 
 Receive Them.  The Askaris Will Search Your Belongings Thoroughly To 
 Make Sure They Have All Your Weapons.  You Are Ordered confined within 
 The Limits Of This Township, And If You Are Detected making any Attempt 
 To Trespass Outside Township Limits You Will Be Confined as The Greeks 
 Are Within The Rest-Camp Under Observation.  The Porters You Brought 
 Into The Country Are All To Be Paid Their Full Wages By You Until Major 
 Schunck Shall Have Dealt With You;  The Porters Are Refused permission 
 To Leave Muanza, Being Needed as Witnesses.  Next Case!" 
   
   
 He Scrawled his Signature At The Foot Of Each Sheet Of Blue Paper, And 
 Made A Motion With His Arm That We Should Leave Court.  But We Sat Down 
 And Waited until The Two Nubian Giants Had Finished flogging Kazimoto, 
 And When They Dragged him To His Feet Will And Fred walked over To Give 
 Him A Few Words Of Comfort.  That Act Of Ordinary Kindness Threw The 
 Lieutenant Into Another Fury. 
   
   
 "Bring The Nyamwezi Here!" He Ordered, And The Askaris Hustled him Up 
 In Front Of The Table. 
   
   
 "What Do You Do?  Have You No Manners?  Return Proper Thanks For The 
 Lesson You Have Received!" 
   
   
 Kazimoto Stood Silent. 
   
   
 "For God'S Sake--" Will Began. 
   
   
 "Say 'Thank You' To Him, Kazimoto!" Fred whispered. 
   
   
 There Is No Native Word For "Thank You"--Only A Bastard Thing 
 Introduced by Tyrants From Europe Who Never Understood The African 
 Contention That The Giver Rewards Himself If His Gift Is Worth Anything 
 At All. 
   
   
 "Asente," Said Kazimoto Meekly. 
   
   
 "Why Don'T You Salute?  Don'T You Know Where You Are?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 247 
 "For The Love Of God Salute Him!" Will Almost Shouted. 
   
   
 Kazimoto Obeyed. 
   
   
 "Take Him And Put Him On The Chain-Gang!" Ordered the Lieutenant. "You 
 Europeans Leave The Court!" 
   
   
 "I'M No European!" Will Shouted back.  "Thank The Lord I Was Born In a 
 Country You'Ll Never Set Foot In!" 
   
   
 "Take Them Away Before I Have To Make An Example Of Them!" The 
 Lieutenant Ordered. 
   
   
 Obediently The Askaris Gathered about Us And Hustled us Out Into The 
 Open, Poking at My Bandaged wound To Get Swifter Action, And Going as 
 Far As To Threaten Us With Their Hippo-Hide Whips.  I Trod On The Naked 
 Toe Of One Of Them With Sufficient Suddenness And Weight To Deprive Him 
 Of The Use Of It For All Time, And Luckily For Me He Did Not See Who 
 Did It.  The Askari Next To Him Had Boots On, And Got The Blame. 
   
   
 The Black Men Who Were To Search Our Belongings Tried to Induce Us To 
 Hurry, But We Insisted on Seeing The Iron Ring Riveted to Kazimoto'S 
 Neck.  The Ring Had A Shackle On It, And Through That They Passed the 
 Long Chain That Held Him Prisoner In the Midst Of A Gang Of Forty Men. 
 Nobody Washed the Wounds On His Back.  We Bought Water From A Woman Who 
 Was Passing With A Great Jar On Her Head, And Did That Much For Him. 
 He Was Naked.  His Clothes That The Askaris Had Torn From Him Had Been 
 Thrown Outside The Court, And Some One Had Stolen Them.  Later They 
 Gave Him A Piece Of Cheap Calico To Bind Round His Waist, But During 
 All That Hot Afternoon He Had Nothing To Keep The Sun From His Tortured 
 Back;  Nor Would They Permit Us To Give Him Anything. 
   
   
 The Mortification Of Having One'S Private Belongings Gone Through By 
 Black Men In uniform Was Made More Exasperating Still By The Fact That 
 Coutlass And The Other Greek And The Goanese Were Spectators, Amusing 
 Themselves With Comments That Came Nearer To Causing Murder Than They 
 Guessed. 
   
   
 The Real Motive Of The Search Was Evident Within Two Minutes From The 
 Commencement.  The Askaris Could Not Read, But They Showed a Most 
 Remarkable Affinity For Paper That Had Been Written On.  They Took The 
 Guns And Ammunition First, But After That They Emptied everything From 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 248 
 Our Bags And Boxes On To The Sand, And Confiscated every Scrap Of 
 Paper, Shaking Our Books To Make Sure Nothing Was Left Between The 
 Leaves. 
   
   
 They Even Took Away Our Writing Material In their Zeal To Find 
 Information Likely To Prove Useful To Their Masters.  But They Forgot 
 To Search Our Pockets, So That They Overlooked the Letter We Had 
 Written In code To Monty And Had Not Yet Sent Away By Messenger. 
   
   
 That Letter Became Our Most Besetting Problem.  How To Find A Runner 
 Who Would Take It To British East And Mail It For Us Up There Without 
 Betraying Us First To The Germans Was Something We Could Not Guess. 
 Even Fred grew Gloomy When We Realized there Was Probably Not A Native 
 On The Whole Countryside With Sufficient Manhood Left In him To Dare 
 Make The Attempt.  The First Overture We Might Make Would Almost 
 Certainly Be Reported to The Commandant At Once. 
   
   
 "What Fools We Were Not To Send Kazimoto With It When He Begged us To!" 
   
   
 "What Worse Than Fools!" 
   
   
 "What Brutes!  Think What We Might Have Saved him!" 
   
   
 We Were Unanimous As To That, But Unanimity Brought No Comfort, Until 
 We All Together Hit On A Notion That Did Ease Our Feelings A Trifle. 
 Coutlass And His Two Friends Were Sitting On Camp-Stools In the Open 
 Where They Could Have A Full View Of Our Doings.  Assuming The 
 Camping-Ground To Be Equally Divided between Their Party And Ours, They 
 Were Well Within Our Portion.  We Decided their Curiosity Was Insolent, 
 Declared inexorable War, And There And Then Felt Better. 
   
   
 Fred went Out With A Tent-Peg And Scored in the Sand A Deep Line To 
 Denote Our Boundary, The Greeks Watching, All Eyes And Guesswork. 
   
   
 "Over The Other Side With You!" Fred ordered when He Had Finished. 
   
   
 They Refused.  He Charged at Them, And They Ran. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 8 (Ipsos Custodes) Pg 249 
 "Whichever Of You, Man Or Servant, Sets Foot On Our Side Of That Line 
 Shall Be A Dead-Sure Hospital Case!" Fred announced.  "We'Ll 
 Reciprocate By Leaving Your Side Of The Camp To You!" 
   
   
 "Who Made You Men Rulers Of This Rest-Camp?" Coutlass Demanded. 
   
   
 "We Did," Fred answered.  "We'Ve Lost Our Rifles Just As You Have. 
 We'Ll Fight You With Bare Hands And Skin You Alive If You Trespass!" 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!" Shouted coutlass.  "By Hell And Waterloo, You Mistake 
 Me For A Weakling!  Wait And See!" 
   
   
 We Had To Wait A Very Long And Weary Time, But We Did See.  In the Days 
 That Followed, When My Wound Festered and I Grew Too Ill To Drag Myself 
 About, Fred and Will Were Able To Leave Me Alone In the Camp Without 
 Any Fear Of A Visit From The Greeks.  It Was Not That There Was Much 
 Left Worth Stealing, But A Mere Visit From Them Might Have Had 
 Consequences We Could Never Have Offset.  Alone, Unable To Rise, I 
 Could Not Have Forced them To Leave, And Their Lingering Would Surely 
 Have Been Interpreted by The Guard, Who Always Watched them From The 
 Corner Of The Road, As Evidence Of Collusion Of Some Sort Between Them 
 And Us. 
   
   
 Just At That Time Coutlass, As It Happened, Would Have Liked nothing 
 Better In the World Than The Chance To Persuade The Germans That He Was 
 In Our Councils.  Fred'S Mere Irritable Determination To Divide The 
 Camp In halves Saved us In all Human Probability From A Trap Out Of 
 Which There Would Have Been No Escape. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 250 
 Ok Thou, Who Gavest English Speech 
         To Both Our Anglo-Saxon Breeds, 
 And Didst Adown All Ages Teach 
         That Art Of Crowning Words With Deeds, 
 May We, Who Use The Speech, Be Blest 
         With Bravery, That When Shall Come 
 In Thy Full Time Our Hour Of Test - 
         That Promised hour Of Christendom, 
 We May Be Found, Whate'Er Our Need, 
         How Grim Soe'Er Our Circumstance, 
 Unwilling To Be Fed or Freed, 
         Or Fame Or Fortune To Enhance 
 By Flinching From The Good Begun, 
         By Broken Word Or Serpent Plan, 
 Or Cruelty In malice Done 
         To Helpless Beast Or Subject Man. 
                                 Amen 
   
   
 There Was Method, Of Course, Behind The Difference In treatment 
 Extended to Us And To The Greeks.  The Motive For Making Coutlass Sell 
 His Mules And Stay Within The Miserable Confines Of The Rest-Camp Was 
 To Make Sure Be Had Money Enough To Feed himself, And To Cut Off All 
 Opportunity For Swift Escape.  Not For A Second Were The Germans 
 Sufficiently Unwary To Admit Collusion With Him. 
   
   
 The Real Ownership Of The Three Mules Was Left In little Doubt When 
 They Were Sold At Public Auction And Bought In by Schillingschen.  Fred 
 And Will Attended the Auction The Day Following Our Scene In court, And 
 Extracted a Lot Of Amusement From Bidding against Schillinschen, 
 Compelling Him Finally To Pay A Good Sum More Than The Mules Were Worth. 
   
   
 Coutlass Was In a Strange Predicament.  The Looting Of Brown'S Cattle 
 Had Been A Bid For Fortune On His Own Account.  Yet By Causing Us To 
 Give Chase He Had Brought Us Into The German Net More Handily Than Ever 
 They Had Hoped.  So It Was Reasonable On His Part To Suppose That If He 
 Could Betray Us More Completely Still, He Might Get Rewarded instead Of 
 Treated as A Broken Tool. 
   
   
 Yet He Did Not Dare To Approach Our Camp, For Fear Lest Fred should 
 Carry Out His Threat And Fight.  The Fight Would Certainly Be Reported 
 By The Askari On Watch At The Crossroads, And That Would Destroy His 
 Chance Of Making Believe To Be In our Confidence.  So He Kept Sending 
 Notes To Me When The Others Were Absent, Even The Native Boy Who 
 Brought Them--Not Daring To Enter Our Camp, But Fastening The Message 
 To A Stone And Throwing It In through The Tent Door. 
   
   
 They Were Strange, Illiterate Messages, Childishly Conceived, Varying 
 Between Straight-Out Offers To Help Us Escape And Dark Insinuations 
 That He Knew Of Something It Would Pay Us Well To Investigate. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 251 
  It Was An English Missionary Spending Three Days In muanza On His Way 
 To Lake Tanganika, Who Came To See What He Could Do For My Wound And 
 Cleared up The Mystery Quite A Little By Reporting What He Had Heard In 
 The Non-Commissioned mess, Where He Had Been Invited to Eat A Meal. 
   
   
 "The Greek," He Said, "Is Trying To Curry Favor By Pretending He Knows 
 Your Plans.  If He Succeeds In worming Into Your Confidence And 
 Persuading You To Make Plans To Escape With Him, They Will Feel 
 Justified in putting You In jail--And That, I Understand, Is Where They 
 Want You." 
   
   
 "Will You Do Me A Favor?" I Asked. 
   
   
 He Hesitated.  It Was Kindness That Had Sent Him Down To Ease My Pain, 
 If Possible, Not Anti-Germanism;  It Was Part Of German Policy To Pose 
 As The Friend Of All Missionaries, And If Anything He Was Prejudiced 
 Against Us--Particularly Against Brown, Whom He Had Visited in jail, 
 And Who Assured him The Only Hymn He Ever Sang Was "Beer, Glorious 
 Beer!" 
   
   
 "That Depends," He Answered. 
   
   
 "We Are Quite Sure Any Letters We Write Will Be Opened," I Said. 
   
   
 He Answered that He Could Hardly Believe That. 
   
   
 "If We Could Send A Letter Unopened to British East It Would Solve Our 
 Worst Problem," I Told Him.  "If You Know Of A Dependable Messenger Who 
 Would Carry Our Letter, I Would Contribute Fifty Pounds Out Of My Own 
 Pocket To The Funds Of Your Mission." 
   
   
 I Made A Mistake There, And Realized it The Next Moment. 
   
   
 "What Kind Of Letter Is Worth Fifty Pounds?" He Asked me.  "Isn'T It 
 Something Illegal That You Fear Might Get You Into Worse Trouble If 
 Opened and Read?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 252 
 I Argued in vain, And Only Made My Case Worse By Citing as An Instance 
 Of German Official Turpitude The Staff Surgeon'S Neglect Of Me. 
   
   
 "But Be Tells Me You Refuse To Be Treated by Him!" He Answered.  "He 
 Says You Enter His Hospital And Are Insolent If He Happens To Be Too 
 Busy To Attend To You At Once.  He Says You Refuse To Let A Native 
 Orderly Dress Your Wound!" 
   
   
 He Had Been Entertained to One Meal At The Commandant'S House On The 
 Bill, And Regaled by Awful Accounts Of Our Ferocity.  I Did Not Succeed 
 In Inserting as Much As The Thin End Of A Different View Until He Asked 
 Me How A Man'S Name Could Be Professor Schillingschen And His Wife'S 
 Lady Isobel Saffren Waldon. 
   
   
 "I Don'T Understand About Titles," He Said. "Shouldn'T She Take His 
 Name, Or Else He Hers, Or Something?" 
   
   
 I Assured him That Marriage Had Never As Much As Entered the Head Of 
 Either Of Them. 
   
   
 "They'Re Simply Living Together," I Said. "He'S A Cynical Brute.  She'S 
 A Designing Female!" 
   
   
 The Missionary Mind Recoiled and Refused to Believe Me.  But After He 
 Had Thought The Matter Over And Seen The Probability, He Swung Over To 
 A Sort Of Lame Admission That A Few More Of My Statements Might Perhaps 
 Be True. 
   
   
 "I Will Take Your Letter And Guarantee Its Delivery In british East, 
 Provided i May Read It And Do Not Disapprove Of Its Contents." He 
 Volunteered. 
   
   
 "That'S Not Unreasonable," I Said, "But The Letter Is In code." 
   
   
 "I Should Have To See It Decoded." 
   
   
 I Told Him To Find Fred and Will.  He Came On Them Sitting Smoking 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 253 
 Under The Great Rock Near The Waterfront That Bad Been Inset With A 
 Bronze Medallion Of Bismarck, And Startled them Almost Into Committing 
 An Assault On Him, By Saying That He Wanted our Secret Code At Once. 
 They Had Been Trying To Get Tobacco To Brown, And Sweetmeats To 
 Kazimoto, Had Failed in both Efforts And Were Short-Tempered. He 
 Explained after They Had Insulted him Sufficiently, And They Walked 
 Down To The Camp One On Either Hand, Apologizing all The Way.  I 
 Imagine They Had Criticized missions Of All Denominations Pretty 
 Thoroughly. 
   
   
 In The End He Decided not To Read The Letter At All. 
   
   
 "I Have Reached the Conclusion You Three Men Are Gentlemen," He Said, 
 "And Would Not Take Advantage Of Me.  I Will Take Your Letter To Ujiji, 
 And Send It To The South End Of Lake Tanganika, To Be Put In the 
 British Mail Bag For Mombasa By Way Of Durban.  It Will Take A Long 
 Time To Reach Its Destination--Perhaps Two Months;  But I Will Have It 
 Registered, And It Will Undoubtedly Get There." 
   
   
 That He Kept His Word And Better We Had Ample Proof Later On, But I Did 
 Not Bless Him Particularly Fervidly At The Time, For He Went Straight 
 To The Doctor And Repeated my Complaints.  He Left For Ujiji The Next 
 Day, And The Net Result Of His Friendly Interference Was That The 
 Doctor Refused me Any Sort Of Attention At All--Even A Change Of 
 Bandages. 
   
   
 Fred and Will Did Their Best For Me, But It Was Little.  I Read In 
 Their Faces, And In their Studied cheerfulness When Speaking In my 
 Presence, That They Had Made Up Their Minds I Was Going To Lose The 
 Number Of My Mess.  They Went To The Commandant And The Lieutenant 
 Besides The Doctor In efforts To Secure For Me Some Sort Of 
 Consideration, But Without Result;  And They Wrote At Least Six Letters 
 To The British East African Protectorate Government That We Ascertained 
 Afterward Never Reached their Destination.  They Tried to Register One 
 Letter, But Registration Was Refused. 
   
   
 "Why Don'T They Jail Us Simply, And Have Done With It?"--Will Kept 
 Wondering aloud. 
   
   
 "They Will When It Suits Their Books," Said I.  "For The Present They 
 Scarcely Dare.  Word Might Reach The British Government.  They'Re 
 Breaking No International Law By Holding Us Here And Keeping Tabs On 
 Us." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 254 
 Before Many Days I Grew Unable To Leave The Hard Cork Mattress On The 
 Camp-Bed in fred'S Tent.  They Went Again To The Commandant, This Time 
 Determined to Force The Issue. 
   
   
 "I Will Send Some One," He Told Them, And They Came Away Delighted that 
 Strong Language Should Succeed where Politeness Formerly Had Failed. 
   
   
 But All The Commandant Did Send Was An Askari Twice A Day, To Lean On 
 His Rifle In the Tent Door, Leer At Me, And March Away Again. 
   
   
 "He Comes To See If I'M Dead," Said I.  "It Would Be Inconvenient To 
 Have Me Die In jail;  There Might Be Inquiries Afterward From British 
 East.  After I'M Dead And Buried they'Ll Jail You Two Healthy Ones, And 
 Keep You Until You 'Blab'!" 
   
   
 "Why Don'T We Straight Out Tell 'Em We Don'T Know A Thing about The 
 Ivory?" Wondered will. 
   
   
 "Because They Wouldn'T Believe Us!" Fred answered. 
   
   
 Seven Days After The Sentry'S First Call The Doctor Took To Coming In 
 Person To Look At Me.  He Never Except Once Stepped inside The Tent, 
 But Was Satisfied to Give Me A Glance Of Contempt And Go Away Again, 
 Once Or Twice Taking Pains To Inspect The Greeks' Camp Before Leaving. 
 He Usually Had Schubert Trailing In his Wake, And Gave Him Stern Orders 
 About Sanitation Which Nobody Ever Carried out.  The Sanitary 
 Conditions Of That Rest-Camp Were Simply Non-Existent Until We Came 
 There, And We Had Gone To No Pains On The Greeks' Account. 
   
   
 But The Greeks Did Us An Unexpected good Turn, Though It Looked like 
 Making More Trouble For Us At The Time.  They Began To Complain Of Lack 
 Of Exercise, And To Grow Actually Sick For Want Of It.  Because Of 
 That, And Jealousy, They Raised a Clamor About Our Freedom To Go 
 Anywhere Within Township Limits As Against Their Strict Confinement To 
 The Camp.  The Commandant Came Down To The Camp In person To Hear What 
 They Had To Say, And Being In a Good Humor Saw Fit To Yield A Point. 
 Being a Military German, Though, He Could Not Do It Without Attaching 
 Ignominious Conditions. 
   
   
 There Was A Band Attached to The Local Company Of Sudanese--An Affair 
 Consisting Of Four Native War-Drums And Two Fifes.  They Knew Eight 
 Bars Of One Tune, And Were Proud Of It, The Fifers Blowing With Beef 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 255 
 And Pluck And The Drummers Thundering Native Fashion, Which Means That 
 The Only Difference Between Their Noise And A Thunder-Storm Was In the 
 Tempo. 
   
   
 Day After Day, Twice A Day, Whether It Rained or Shone, It Seemed to Be 
 The Law That This "Band" Should Patrol The Whole Township Limits, 
 Playing Its Only Tune, Lifting The Tops Of Men'S Heads With Its 
 Infernal Drumming, And Delighting Nobody Except The Players And The 
 Township Urchins, Who Marched in its Wake Rejoicing. 
   
   
 The Greeks And The Goanese Were Given Leave To March With The Band 
 Twice A Day For The Sake Of Exercise.  They Refused indignantly.  The 
 Commandant Flew Into The Rage That Is The Birthright Of All German 
 Officials, But Suddenly Checked himself;  He Had A Brilliant Idea. 
   
   
 He Withdrew The Permission And Changed it To An Order That Coutlass And 
 His Two Friends Should March With The Band Twice Daily For The Sake Of 
 Their Health, On Pain Of Imprisonment Should They Refuse. 
   
   
 "And I Will Prove To You," He Said, "That The Good German Rule Is 
 Impartial.  All Aliens Awaiting Trial And Confined within The Township 
 Limits Shall March With The Band If They Are Able!"  As An Afterthought 
 He Added magnanimously:  "Those In the Jail, Too, Provided they Have 
 Not Been Sentenced for Serious Crimes!" 
   
   
 So Coutlass, His Greek Friend, The Goanese, Fred, Will, And Brown Of 
 Lumbwa Marched about The Town Twice Daily, At Seven In the Morning and 
 Three In the Afternoon, A Journey Of Five Miles, Fred and Will Making 
 No Objection Because It Gave Them A Chance To Talk With Brown.  There 
 Were Strict Orders Against Talking, And Four Askaris Armed with Rifles 
 Marched behind To Enforce The Rule As Well As Keep Guard Over Brown. 
 But The Drums Were So Thunderous And The Shrill Fifes So Lusty That The 
 Askaris Could Not Hear Conversation Pitched in low Tones. 
   
   
 "Brown Says," Said Fred, Returning From The First March, "That He 
 Sleeps With Only A Sheet Of Corrugated iron Between Him And The Ward 
 Where The Chain-Gang Lies.  He Can Talk With Kazimoto When Be Happens 
 To Be At That End Of The Chain.  They'Ve Nothing But Planks To Lie On, 
 Any Of Them.  He Says Kazimoto Seems Determined to Kill The Lieutenant 
 Who Sentenced him, And As Soon As He'S Off The Chain We'D Better Grab 
 Him And Hurry Him Out Of The Country." 
   
   
 "Six Months!" Said I. "Splendid Advice!  How Many Of Us Will Be Alive 
 Or At Liberty Six Months From Now? Not I, At Any Rate!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 256 
 "How D'You Suppose They Discipline The Chain-Gang?" Fred asked, 
 Ignoring My Growing Hopelessness. 
   
    
 "With The Lash," Said I.  "I'Ve Seen!" 
   
   
 "That'S By Day," Said Fred.  "They'Ve Better Ways At Night.  One Plan 
 Is No Supper Or Breakfast;  But The Champion Scheme Is The Doctor'S. 
 On Complaint By The Askaris That A Man On The Chain Has Shirked his 
 Work, Or Answered back, Or Been Obstreperous, The Doctor Serves Him Out 
 A Handful Of Strong Pills And Sees Him Swallow Them.  They Don'T 
 Unchain Them At Night.  D'You Get The Idea?" 
   
   
 "Not Yet." 
   
   
 "Every Time The Man Has To Go Outside He Must Wake The Whole Gang And 
 Take Them With Him!  They'Re Weary After Working Twelve Hours At A 
 Stretch.  After The Second Or Third Time Up They Begin To Object Pretty 
 Strenuously.  After The Third Or Fourth Time He'S So Unpopular That 
 He'D Almost Rather Die Than Wake Them.  Imagine The Result, And What He 
 Suffers!" 
   
   
 Despondency Began To Have Hold Of Me, And I No Longer Wished to Live. 
 The Doctor'S Momentary Daily Visits Increased my Loathing For The Crew 
 Who Tyrannized there In the Name Of Progress, And I Could See No Way Of 
 Retaliating.  I Became Seized with A Sort Of Delirious Conviction That 
 If Only I Could Die And Be Out Of The Way My Friends Would Be Far 
 Better Able To Contrive Without Me.  There Is No Convalescence In a 
 Mood Of That Sort, And Each Morning Found Me Nearer Death Than The 
 Last.  Then Malaria Developed, To Give Me The Finishing Touch, And 
 Although Strangely Enough I Grew Less Instead Of More Delirious, Fred 
 And Will At Last Made No Secret Of Their Belief That I Was Doomed. 
   
   
 I Myself Was As Sure Of Death As They Were Of Dinner, And Had Better 
 Appetite For My Fate Than They For The Meal, When One Morning The 
 Doctor Came Earlier Than Usual.  He Had Schubert With Him, And They 
 Both Peered through The Tent Door.  I Was Alone, For Fred and Will Were 
 In The Other Tent.  The Doctor Stepped inside And Examined me Closely, 
 Drawing Up The Mosquito Net To See My Face.  I Did Not Trouble To Speak 
 To Him, Or Even To Open My Eyes After The First Glimpse.  He Spoke To 
 Schubert In german, Let The Net Fall Again, And Went Away.  Schubert 
 Spat And Rubbed his Hands, And Swung Along After Him. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 257 
 Then I Heard Will And Fred arguing. 
   
   
 "Don'T Be A Fool!"  That Was Fred'S Voice. 
   
   
 "I Tell You I'Ll Tell Him!" 
   
   
 "Fine Thing To Tell A Poor Devil That'S Dying!  Let Him Die In peace!" 
   
   
 "No.  He Has Guts, For I'Ve Seen Him Use 'Em.  I Shall Tell Him.  You 
 Wait Here!" 
   
   
 But They Both Came In, And Sat One On Either Side Of My Bed. 
   
   
 "Did You Hear What That Doctor Person Said To The Sergeant-Major?" 
 Asked will. 
   
   
 "I Don'T Talk His Beastly Language," I Answered. 
   
   
 "He Said You'Ll Be Dead By This Evening!  He Told Schubert To Go And 
 Get The Chain-Gang And Have Them Dig Your Grave At Noon Instead Of 
 Laying Off For Dinner.  He Added they'Ll Have You Buried and Out Of The 
 Way By Four Or Five O'Clock.  Then Schubert Asked him--" 
   
   
 "No Need to Tell Him That!" Fred objected.  But Will Was Watching My 
 Face Keenly, And Went On. 
   
   
 "Schubert Asked him Who Was To Say Whether You Are Dead Or Not.  What 
 D'You Suppose The Answer Was?" 
   
   
 Fred objected again, But Will Waved him Aside. 
   
   
 "The Answer He Gave Schubert Was:  'Once He Is Covered with Two Meters 
 Of Earth, I Shall Not Hesitate To Sign A Certificate!'--So Now You Know 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 258 
 What To Expect!" 
   
   
 Will Smiled as He Watched me.  His Face Was As Keen And Calm As Fred'S 
 Was Troubled. 
   
   
 "Take More Than His Guesswork To Put You Where He'D Like To Have 
 You--Eh?" He Laughed.  And I Sat Up. 
   
   
 Fred began To Grin Too.  "You Were Right, Will!" He Admitted. 
   
   
 It Was Not Anger That Swept Over Me And Gave Me New Strength.  Anger, I 
 Think, Would Have Hastened the End.  It Was Sudden Recognition Of My 
 Own Superiority To The Devils Who Knew So Little Mercy.  It Was Simple 
 Inability In the Last Recourse To Admit Myself Able To Be Their Victim. 
  Even My Leg Felt Better.  I Demanded food;  And By The Time They 
 Returned from Their Morning March Around The Township I Had Made My Boy 
 Dress Me And Was Sitting Up. 
   
   
 We Dated the Turn Of The Tide Of Our Fortunes From That Hour. 
 Certainly From That Day We Began To Prosper--At First Gradually, But 
 After A While In the Old Swift Way That Had Made All Our Ventures With 
 Monty Such Amazingly Amusing Work 
   
   
 We Saw The Chain-Gang--Kazimoto Last, With A Shovel Over His 
 Shoulder--March Away At Noon To Dig Me A Grave In the Sand Close To 
 Where They Burned the Township Refuse.  Fred and Will Went And Watched 
 Them A While, Contriving To Slip A Paper Of Snuff Into Kazimoto'S Hand 
 While He Rested and Let The Pick-Men Labor.  (Snuff To A Nyamwezi Is As 
 Comforting as An Old Sweet Pipe To Nine White Men Out Of Ten.) 
   
   
 When Schubert Came That Evening at Five With An Old Sack To Put My Body 
 In, And Plenty Of Askaris To Help Decide Disputes, I Was Standing Up. 
 He Could Not Very Well Make Even Himself Believe That A Man Who Could 
 Speak And Walk Was Dead, But He Could Be Immensely Enraged by What He 
 Was Pleased to Call My Schweinspiel.* He Cursed me In every Language He 
 Knew, Including Several Native Ones, And Ended by Threatening To Make 
 Sure Of Me Before Going To So Much Trouble A Second Time.  [*Literally, 
 Pig-Play.] 
   
   
 We Enraged him Still Further By Laughing at Him, And Fred got Out His 
 Concertina That For Many Days Past Had Lain Idle.  The First Few Notes 
 Of It Made Me Realize More Than Any Other Thing Could Have Done What 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 259 
 Depths Of Despondency We Must Have Plumbed, For Hitherto, For As Long 
 As I Had Known Fred, He Had Always Been Able With That Weird Instrument 
 Of His To Rouse His Own Spirits And So Stir The Rest Of Us.  He Resumed 
 Old Habits Now, And Gloom Departed. 
   
   
 That Evening I Went To Bed like A New Man, And For The First Night For 
 Long Weeks Slept Until Dawn, Awaking Hungry.  My Leg Began To Mend.  We 
 All Saw The Absurdity, If Nothing Else, Of The Treatment Meted out To 
 Us, Based on No Better Grounds Than Our Supposed possession Of A 
 Secret.  Laughter Brought Good Hope.  Hope Gave Us Courage, And Courage 
 Set Fred and Will Hunting For A Means Of Escape.  We Decided there And 
 Then That To Wait For This Major Schunck To Come From The Coast And 
 Pass Judgment On Us Was A Ridiculous Waste Of Time As Well As Highly 
 Dangerous. 
   
   
 The First Discovery Fred and Will Made Was That There Were Footholds 
 Cut In the Great Granite Rock In which The Bismarck Medallion Was Set. 
 They Climbed it, And Discovered that From The Summit They Could See All 
 Muanza Harbor From The Shore Line To The Island In the Distance. 
 Sitting Up There, They Presently Spotted a Native Dhow Drawn Up With 
 Bow To The Beach With The Indefinable, Yet Unescapable Air Of Rather 
 Long Disuse. 
   
   
 Resisting The First Temptation To Hurry Along The Shore And Examine It, 
 They Returned to Camp To Tell Me Of The Find, And Sent Simba, 
 Kazimoto'S Understudy, To Find Out Whose The Dhow Was And Why It Lay 
 There.  They Explained it Was A Fairly Big Dhow, And Might Be Laid Up 
 There On Account Of Leakiness. 
   
   
 But Simba Came Back Grinning With The News That The Dhow Belonged to An 
 Indian From British East Who Had Been Jailed for Smuggling.  The Dhow 
 Had Been Sold To Pay His Court Fine, And Was Now Owned by A Punjabi Who 
 Had Bought It As A Speculation And Repented already Of His Bargain, 
 Because The Germans Would Grant Him No License To Use It And Nobody 
 Else Would Buy. 
   
   
 They Went Off Again To Have Another Distant View Of It And To Try And 
 Invent Some Means Of Inspecting It Closely Without Betraying Their 
 Purpose.  I Was Already Able To Walk With The Aid Of A Stick, Although 
 Not Fast Enough To Keep Up With Them, And Curiosity Taking Hold Of Me I 
 Called two Of Our Servants To Give Me A Supporting arm And Limped off 
 To See The Grave The Chain-Gang Had Recently Dug For Me. 
   
   
 It Was A Struggle To Get There, But It Seemed to Me The Trip Was Worth 
 It.  I Found The Grave About A Foot Too Short, But Otherwise 
 Commensurate, And Sat Down On A Stone Beside It To Consider A Number Of 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 260 
 Things.  A Convalescent Man Sitting Beside His Own Grave May Be 
 Forgiven For Amusing Himself With A Lot Of Near-Philosophy, And If I 
 Trespassed over The Borders Of Common Sense On That Occasion I Claim It 
 Was Not Without Excuse. 
   
   
 My Meditations Were Disturbed by The Arrival On The Scene Of The Very 
 Last Man I Expected.  We Had Been Told That Professor Schillingschen 
 Had Gone Out On A Journey, Leaving His "Wife" In the Care Of The 
 Commandant;  Yet I Looked up Suddenly To See Him Standing On The Other 
 Side Of The Grave With Both Hands In the Pockets Of His Knickerbockers 
 And A Grin Of Malevolent Amusement Showing Through The Tangled mass Of 
 Hair That Hid His Lower Face. 
   
   
 "Yours?" He Asked. 
   
   
 I Nodded. 
   
   
 "A Close Call!  I Have Seen Closer!  I Have Stood So Close To The Brink 
 Of Death That The Width Of An Eyelash Would Have Damned me!" 
   
   
 "Piffle!" I Answered rudely.  "How Can The Already Damned be Damned 
 Again?" 
   
   
 He Laughed. 
   
   
 "You Are Sick Still.  You Are Petulant.  Never Mind.  I Was Coming To 
 Call On You.  I Watched you Leave The Camp From The Top Of That Hill 
 Behind You, And Followed.  It Is Better.  We Can Talk Here Without 
 Being Overheard.  Send Those Natives Away!" 
   
   
 "Certainly Not!" I Answered, But I Reckoned without The Professor And 
 The Fear His Hairy Presence Instilled in them. 
   
   
 "Go!" He Said Simply In the Native Tongue;  And Although I Ordered them 
 At Once To Stay By Me They Ran Back To The Camp As Fast As Their Legs 
 Could Carry Them. 
   
   
 "How Do You Feel Now?" The Professor Asked. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 261 
 I Stared at Him, Wondering Just What He Meant. 
   
   
 "I Mean, Without A Pistol!" 
   
   
 I Saw The Point.  The Rest-Camp Was Not Far Away, But As Far As I Could 
 Judge We Were Quite Out Of Sight From It, And Unless There Should 
 Happen To Be Some One Hiding among The Rocks At The Foot Of The Hill 
 Behind Me We Were Quite Alone, Unless, As Was Probable, He Had Placed 
 One Or Two Of His Own Hangers-On In hiding Within Call. 
   
   
 "This Grave Should Be A Lesson To You!" He Grinned. 
   
   
 "It Has Been," I Answered. 
   
   
 "An Illustration," He Suggested. 
   
   
 "A Period," Said I. 
   
   
 "To Your Youth?" He Asked maliciously.  "To The Age Of Folly?" 
   
   
 "To The Time," I Said, "When Any Man Could Blackmail Me.  I Would Go 
 Into That Grave Ten Times Rather Than Tell You What You Want To Know!" 
   
   
 "There Are Worse Places Than The Grave!" He Said, Beginning To Leer 
 Savagely.  His Eyes Glittered.  He Could Scarcely Find Patience For 
 Argument.  The Thin Veneer Of His First Mock-Friendliness Was Gone 
 Utterly. 
   
   
 "I Imagine That German Colonial Life Is Far Worse Than Death," Said I. 
   
   
 "German Will Be The Only Rule In africa," He Answered.  "You Fools Of 
 English Have Set Your Hopes On The Christian Missionary.  No 
 Weaker-Backed camel Could Exist!  The German Michael Is Wiser!  Islam 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 262 
 Is The Key To The Native Mind--Islam And The Lash--They Understand 
 That!  In a Few Years There Will Be Nothing In africa That Is Not 
 German From Core To Epidermis!  As To Whether You Shall Live To See 
 That Day Or Not Depends On Yourself, My Young Friend!" 
   
   
 Being Quite Sure That He Had A Plan In mind That Nothing Would Prevent 
 Him From Unfolding, I Did Not Waste Effort Or Words On Prompting Him, 
 But Sat Still.  My Silence And Apparent Lack Of Curiosity Disturbed 
 Him;  There Is Nothing Your Bully Likes Better Than To Force His Victim 
 Into A War Of Words. 
   
   
 "I Will Be Short And Blunt With You!" He Began Again.  "I Know Your 
 History!  You Were In portuguese Africa With Lord Montdidier.  There He 
 Came In possession Of The Secret Of Tippoo Tib'S Ivory;  How, I Do Not 
 Yet Know, But You Shall Tell Me That Presently!  You And Your Friends 
 Came With Him To Zanzibar, Where You Made Certain Inquiries--Sufficient 
 To Set The Sultan Of Zanzibar By The Ears.  You Left Zanzibar For 
 Mombasa, And For Some Reason That You Shall Also Tell Me Presently, 
 Lord Montdidier Did Not Leave The Ship At Mombasa But Continued the 
 Voyage Toward London.  Certain Individuals Decided that It Would Be 
 Better Not To Permit Lord Montdidier To Reach Europe Alive.  There Were 
 Agents Charged with The Duty Of Attending To That.  It Was Considered 
 Safest To Throw Him Overboard Into The Mediterranean;  Men Were Ordered 
 By Cable To Board The Ship At Suez.  Yet When The Ship Reached suez 
 Nobody Knew Anything about Him!  Tell Me Where He Left The Ship, And 
 Why!" 
   
   
 He Glared with Eyes Accustomed to Extorting Facts From Savages, 
 Depending On Physical Weakness So To Undermine My Will That I Would 
 Give My Secret Away, Perhaps Without Knowing It. 
   
   
 I Lowered my Eyes, Not Being Minded to Match The Strength Of My 
 Eye-Muscles Against His.  The News That Monty Had Not Reached suez As A 
 Matter Of Fact Made Me Feel Physically Sick.  If It Were True, It Meant 
 Most Likely That He Had Been The Victim Of Foul Play, For That Steamer 
 Was Not Scheduled to Stop Anywhere Before Reaching The Suez Canal.  As 
 For The People On The Ship Knowing Nothing about Him They No Doubt 
 Preferred not To Talk To Strangers.  That Sort Of News Is Easily Kept 
 Under Cover For A While.  Schillingschen Grew Angry At My Silence, And 
 Changed his Tactics. 
   
   
 "Where Did He Leave The Ship?" He Shouted--Suddenly--Savagely. 
   
   
 I Did Not Answer.  He Came Round To My Side Of The Grave, And Laid A 
 Heavy Clenched fist On My Shoulder.  It Seemed to Weigh Like Lead In 
 The Weak Condition I Was In. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 263 
 "You Shall Tell Me What Lord Montdidier Is Doing Now, Or That Grave 
 Shall Resemble In your Imagination A Bed of Roses!" 
   
   
 He Seized my Neck In a Grasp Like Iron, And Squeezed it.  I Rose 
 Suddenly And Struck Him In the Stomach With My Elbow.  Strength Had 
 Returned more Swiftly Than I Had Guessed, Or Perhaps It Was Indignation 
 At The Touch Of His Fingers.  At Any Rate He Staggered clear Of Me, And 
 I Thought He Would Assault Me Now In real Earnest;  But Perhaps He 
 Suspected me Of Having Weapons Concealed somewhere.  Instead Of Rushing 
 At Me Like An Angry Bull He Calmed himself And Laughed. 
   
   
 "You Are Strong For A Man They Thought Of Burying!"' He Said.  "Never 
 Mind!  You Shall See Reason Presently!  It Is Well Understood That You 
 And Your Friends Know Where Tippoo Tib'S Ivory Is Hidden.  You Imagine 
 You Can Keep The Secret.  If You Keep It, You Shall Never Make Use Of 
 It, My Young Friend!  If You Choose To Tell, You Shall Be Suitably 
 Rewarded!  Come Now--I Thought You Were Going To Look For It Down In 
 These Parts.  I Admit You Fooled me.  You Simply Made A False Move To 
 Draw Attention Off From Lord Montdidier.  Tell Me Where He Is And What 
 He Does--And--Or--" 
   
   
 "And What?  Or What?"  I Demanded, As Insolently As I Knew How.  I Saw 
 No Sense In answering Him Gently. 
   
   
 "I Will Show You!" 
   
   
 I Had Begun To Feel Weak Again, But He Offered me An Arm, And Since He 
 Seemed in no Hurry I Was Able To Struggle Along Beside Him.  We Took To 
 The Main Road And When We Reached the D.O.A.G. He Called for A Hammock 
 And Some Porters.  Being Carried in that Way Was Sheer Luxury After The 
 Walk In my Weak State, And I Lay Back Feeling Like A Tripper On 
 Vacation.  I Saw Fred and Will Climbing Down From Their Observation 
 Post On Top Of The Bismarck Monument, But He Did Not Notice Them. 
   
    
 Every German Sergeant, And Every Askari We Passed saluted us With About 
 Twice As Much Respect As I Had Ever Seen Them Show The Commandant;  And 
 Schillingschen Returned salutes Much Less Carefully Than He, Merely By 
 A Curt Nod, Or One Raised finger.  Apparently The Military Feared him, 
 For When We Passed the Commandant, Who Was Personally Superintending 
 The Flogging Of Two Natives In the Market-Place For Not Saluting 
 Himself, He Took Several Paces Forward To Make Sure Schillingschen 
 Should See His Act Of Homage.  The Professor Merely Nodded in return, 
 And I Began To I Wonder Whether There Was A Rift In the Lute Of 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 264 
 Muanza'S Official Good Relations.  Surely I Hoped so.  Anything 
 Calculated to Set The Germans' Garrison Life At Odds Looked to Me Like 
 The Gift Of Heaven! 
   
   
 Schillingschen, Striding Beside The Hammock, Directed our Course Along 
 The Shore-Front Under Palm-Trees, Planted in stately Rows With 
 Meticulous Precision.  He Kept Far Enough To One Side To Avoid The 
 Charge Of Being Seen Walking With Me, But From Time To Time Tossed me 
 Remarks Calculated to Keep My Nerves On Edge. 
   
   
 "What I Shall Show You Is By Way Of Warning!" Was A Remark He Repeated 
 Two Or Three Times.  Then:  "A Native Can Always Be Made To Talk By 
 Flogging Him.  Some White Men Need sterner Measures!" 
   
   
 We Left The Commandant'S House On The Hill Far Behind And Followed the 
 Curve Of The Lake Shore, Toward A Rocky Promontory With A Clump Of 
 Thick Jungle Behind It.  Fear Began To Get Its Work In, Until The 
 Thought Came That What He Most Desired was To Make Me Afraid;  Then I 
 Managed to Summon Sufficient Contempt For Him And His Tribe To Regain 
 My Nerve And Once More Almost Enjoy The Promenade. 
   
   
 He Halted the Hammock Bearers At A Spot About Three Hundred yards Away 
 From The Promontory And, Leaving Them Standing There, Turned inland 
 With A Hand On My Arm To Give Me Support And Direction.  We Followed a 
 Path That Was Fairly Well Marked out And Trodden, But Rough, And 
 Several Times I Should Have Fallen But For His Help.  My Legs Still 
 Refused any Sort Of Strenuous Duty. 
   
   
 "The Staff Surgeon At This Station Is A Man Of Ideas," He Announced as 
 We Rounded a Big Rock And Passed down A Narrow Glade In the Jungle. 
 "He Is Original.  He Is Not Like Some Of Our Official Fools.  He 
 Studies." 
   
   
 I Refused to Seem Curious, And Walked beside Him In silence. 
   
   
 "He Studies Sleeping Sickness.  If He Can Find The Key To The Solution 
 Of That Scourge It Will Mean Promotion For Him.  He Has Noticed that 
 The Sleeping Sickness Is Always At Its Worst Beside The Lake, And 
 Putting Two And Two Together Like A Sensible Man Has Reached the 
 Conclusion That The Disease May Be Propagated in some Way In the Blood 
 Of These Things." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 265 
 We Emerged into A Clearing In which A Pool More Than A Hundred yards 
 Long And Nearly As Many Wide Was Formed naturally By A Hollow In the 
 Surface Of A Great Sheet Of Granite.  The Pool Was Fed by A Trickle Of 
 Water From A Jumble Of Rocks At One End.  At The Other End The Bottom 
 Of The Pond Sloped upward Gradually, So That A Ramp Of Smooth Rock Was 
 Formed, Emerging Out Of Shallow Water.  A Stone Wall Had Been Built 
 About Three Feet High To Enclose That End Of The Pond, And All The Way 
 Along Both Sides The Granite Had Been Broken And Chipped until The 
 Edges Were Sheer And Unclimbable. 
   
   
 "Look!" He Said, Pointing. 
   
   
 I Looked and Grew Sick.  On The Ramp, Half In the Water And Half Out 
 Lay About A Hundred crocodiles Basking In the Sun, Their Yellow Eyes 
 All Open.  They Were Aware Of Us, For They Began To Move Slowly Higher 
 Out Of Water As If They Expected something. 
   
   
 "You See That Post?" Asked schillingschen. 
   
   
 The Stump Of A Dead Tree That He Referred to Stood Up Nearly Straight 
 Out Of A Crack In the Rock, And A Few Yards Above Water Level.  The 
 Crocodiles All Lay Nose Toward It, Some Of Them Twelve Or Fourteen Feet 
 Long, Some Smaller, And Some Very Small Indeed, All Interested to 
 Distraction In the Dead Tree-Trunk. 
   
   
 "That Is Where He Feeds Them," Schillingschen Announced.  "He Has 
 Tested them For Hearing, Smell, And Eyesight.  By Making Fast A Living 
 Animal To That Post Be Has Been Able To Convince Himself That From 
 About Nine In the Morning Until Five In the Afternoon Their Senses Are 
 Limited.  Only Occasionally Do They Come And Take The Bait Between 
 Those Hours.  They Are Hungriest In the Early Morning Just Before 
 Daylight.  Recently A Large Ape Tied to The Post At Midday Was Not 
 Killed and Eaten Until Four Next Morning, And That Is About The Usual 
 Thing, Although Not The Rule.  Now My Proposal Is--" 
   
   
 He Stepped back And Eyed me With The Coldest Look Of Appraisal I Ever 
 Sickened under.  I Blenched at Last--Visibly Suffered under His Eye, 
 And He Liked it. 
   
   
 "--That You Tell Your Secret Or Be Fastened to That Post From Noon, 
 Say, Until The Crocodiles Make An End Of You!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 266 
 He Stepped back A Pace Farther, Perhaps To Gloat Over My Discomfort, 
 Perhaps From Fear Of Some Concealed weapon. 
   
   
 "You Have Not Much Time To Arrive At Your Decision!" 
   
   
 He Took Another Pace Backward.  It Occurred to Me Then That He Was 
 Looking For Some One He Expected.  Nobody Turning Up, He Began To 
 Gather Loose Stones And Throw Them At The Reptiles, Driving Them Down 
 Into Deep Water, First In ones And Twos And Then By Dozens.  Most Of 
 Them Swam Away To The Far Side Of The Pool, And Hid Themselves Where It 
 Was Deep. 
   
   
 Then, Panting With Having Run, There Came A Native Who Looked like A 
 Zulu, For He Had Enormous Thighs And The Straight Up And Down Carriage, 
 As Well As Facial Characteristics. 
   
   
 "You Are Late!" Shouted schillingschen In german "Warum?  What D'Ye 
 Mean By It?" 
   
   
 The Man Opened his Mouth Wide And Made Grimaces.  He Had No Tongue. 
 Schillingschen Laughed. 
   
   
 "This Is A Servant Who Does No Tattling In the Market-Place!" He Said, 
 Turning again Toward Me.  "He And I Can Tie You To That Post Easily. 
 What Do You Say?" 
   
   
 There Was Nothing Whatever To Say, Or To Do Except Wonder How To 
 Circumvent Him, And Nothing In sight That Could Possibly Turn Into A 
 Friend--Except A Little Tuft Of Faded brown That Out Of The Corner Of 
 My Eye I Detected zigzagging Toward Me In the Direction From Which We 
 Had Come.  A Moment Later I Knew It Really Was A Friend.  "Crinkle," A 
 Mongrel Dog That Fred bad Adopted the Day After Our Arrival, Breasted 
 The Low Rise, Saw Me, Gave A Yelp Of Delight And Came Scampering. 
   
   
 The Dog Sniffed my Knee To Make Sure Of Me, And Then Trotted over To 
 Sniff Schillingschen.  The Professor Stooped down To Pat Him, Rubbed 
 His Ear A Moment To Get The Dog'S Confidence, And Then Seized him 
 Suddenly By Both Hind Legs.  I Saw What He Intended too Late. 
   
   
 "Stop, Or I'Ll Kill You!" I Shouted, And Made A Rush At Him.  But He 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 267 
 Swung The Yelping Dog And Hurled him Far Out Into The Pool. 
   
   
 A Second Later My Fist Crashed into His Face And Be Staggered backward. 
  A Second Later Yet The Dumb Zulu Pinned my Elbows From Behind And Set 
 His Knee Into The Small Of My Back With Such Terrific Force That I 
 Yelled with Pain.  Then Schillingschen Approached me And Began To Try 
 To Drive My Teeth In with Unaccustomed fists.  He Loosened my Front 
 Teeth, But Cut His Own Knuckles, So Began Looking about For A Stick. 
   
   
 Strangely Enough My Own Attention Was Less Fixed on Schillingschen Than 
 On The Wretched "Crinkle" Swimming Frantically For Shore.  Dog-Like He 
 Was Making Straight For Me, And There Was No Possibility Whatever Of 
 His Being able To Scramble Up The Steep Side.  I Shouted to Call His 
 Attention, And Tried to Motion To Him To Swim Toward Shallow Water, But 
 The Zulu Would Not Let My Arms Free, And The Dog Only Thought I Was 
 Urging Him To Hurry. 
   
   
 Schillingschen Found A Stick And Came Back To Give Me A Hammering With 
 It Just At The Moment When A Crocodile Saw "Crinkle."  A Blow Landed on 
 My Head, Cut My Forehead, And Sent The Blood Down Into My Eyes At The 
 Same Moment That  I Heard The Dog'S Yelp Of Agony;  And Next Time I 
 Looked at The Pond There Was A Tiny Whirlpool On The Surface, Slightly 
 Tinged with Red. 
   
   
 "You Swine!" I Shouted at Schillingschen, Trying To Break Loose And 
 Attack Him.  For Answer He Raised his Cudgel In both Hands And Stood On 
 Tiptoe To Get Leverage.  If That Blow Had Landed it Must Have Broken 
 Something, For He Was Strong As A Gorilla;  But Somebody Shouted--I 
 Recognized fred'S Voice, And In another Second He And Will Charged down 
 On Us.  Schillingschen Turned about To Strike Fred instead Of Me, But 
 Will'S Fist Hit Him On The Ear And Split It.  The Professor Staggered 
 Backward, And A Moment Later Fred had Felled the Zulu. 
 I Reeled from Weakness And Excitement, And Nearly Fell Down. 
   
   
 "Throw Him To The Crocks, You Men!" I Urged madly.  "He Threw Crinkle 
 In.  Throw Him!  Nobody'Ll Ever Know!  He'D Have Dared throw Me In! 
 Nobody Comes Here!  Throw Him In and Trust The Crocks To Leave No 
 Trace!" 
   
   
 "Shut Up, You Fool!" Growled fred. 
   
   
 "Did You See Him Throw That Dog In?" I Retorted. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 268 
 "No," " He Answered, "But I Saw Him Strike You.  That'S Enough!  I'Ll 
 Deal With Him!" 
   
   
 I Suppose Fred intended to Knock The Professor Down And Belabor Him 
 With The Same Stick Be Had Used on Me, But The Plan Died stillborn. 
 Schillingschen Bethought Him Of His Hip-Pocket, Produced a Repeating 
 Pistol, And Leveled it. 
   
   
 "Any Nonsense, And I Shoot You All!" He Announced. 
   
   
 That Ended the Battle As Far As We Were Concerned.  We Had No Firearms. 
  Schillingschen Wasted no Time On Explanations, But Beckoned his Zulu 
 And Walked off, Striding at A Great Pace And Only Looking Back Over His 
 Shoulder Once Or Twice To Make Sure We Were Not In pursuit. 
   
   
 Fred and Will Lent Me An Arm Apiece And We Followed slowly, I 
 Recounting as Fast As I Could All That Had Happened, And They Trying To 
 Chaff Me Back Into A Sensible Frame Of Mind. 
   
   
 "That Was A Decent Dog!" I Insisted.  "He Slept On My Bed those Nights 
 When I Had Fever!" 
   
   
 "I Know It," Fred answered.  "Will And I Lay And Scratched, While You 
 Rested, With Proper Flea-Food For Protection!  Don'T Worry, We'Ll Find 
 You Another Dog!" 
   
   
 Schillingschen'S Consideration For My Wound Had Vanished with The 
 Chance Of Making Use Of Me.  As We Emerged into The Open We Saw Him In 
 The Distance Lolling In the Hammock He Had Brought Me In. 
   
   
 "Never Mind!" Grinned will.  "I'Ll Bet The Brute Has An Earache!" 
   
   
 "And Teeth-Ache!" Added fred. 
   
   
 "And I'Ll Bet He Has Gone To Prepare Us A Hot Reception!" Said I.  "He 
 Owns This Town!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 269 
 But Nothing Happened immediately On Our Return Into The Town.  Actually 
 Fred and Will Had Been Outside Township Limits And Could Be Arrested; 
 Suspecting Foul Play As Soon As They Saw Me With Schillingschen, They 
 Had Followed at Once.  They Were As Mystified as I When No Swift 
 Vengeance Lit On Them.  We Saw Schillingschen Carried in the Hammock Up 
 The Steep Path Leading To The Commandant'S House;  But No One Came Down 
 Again.  After We Got Back To Camp We Spent All The Rest Of The Day 
 Waiting For The Vengeance We Felt Sure Was Overdue, But None Came. 
 Toward Evening We Even Began To Grow Hopeful Again And To Talk About 
 The Dhow.  Fred and Will Had Examined it Through Field-Glasses From The 
 Top Of The Rock, And Were Optimistic 'Regarding Its Size And General 
 Condition. 
   
   
 "Even If It Leaks Rather Badly," Said Will, "We Could Reach Some 
 Island, And Beach It There, And Caulk It." 
   
   
 "How About That Launch, That Brought The Professor And Lady Saffren 
 Waldon?" I Asked. 
   
   
 "What About It?" 
   
   
 "Couldn'T They Follow Us With That?" 
   
   
 "You Bet They Could!" Said Will.        "We'Ve Either Got To Spike The 
 Launch'S Boilers, Or Give Them The Complete Slip On A Dark Night!" 
   
   
 "We Might Steal The Launch!" Suggested fred, But That Was Too Wild A 
 Proposal To Be Taken Seriously.  The Launch Was The Apple Of The German 
 Governmental Eye, And The Engine Crew Slept On It Always. 
   
   
 The Prospect Was Unpromising as Ever, Yet I Went To Bed and Listened to 
 The Strains Of Fred'S Concertina In the Next Tent With Less Foreboding 
 Than At Any Time Since Reaching Muanza, And Fell Asleep To The Tune Of 
 Silver Hairs Among The Gold, A Melancholy Piece That Will Liked to Sing 
 When Hope Or Courage Stirred him. 
   
   
 I Was Awakened near Midnight Of A Moonless Black Night By A Hand On My 
 Bedclothes And The Light Of A Lantern In my Eyes. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 270 
 "Hus-S-S-H!" Said Some One. "Don'T Speak Yet!  Listen!" 
   
   
 It Was A Woman'S Voice, And It Puzzled me Indescribably, For A Sick 
 Man'S Wits Don'T Work Swiftly As A Rule When He Lies Between Sleeping 
 And Waking. 
   
   
 "Listen!" Said The Voice Again.  "I Must Come To Terms With You Three 
 Men!  You Are The Only Hope Left Me!  I Have No Friends In muanza--And 
 None Whom I Trust!  Those Greeks And That Goanese Would Sell Me To The 
 First Bidder, And These Germans Are Worse Than Dogs!" 
   
   
 "But Who Are You?" I Asked stupidly. 
   
   
 For Answer She Held The Lantern So That I Could See Her Face.  Her Hand 
 Trembled, And The Unsteady Light Threw Baffling Shadows, But Even So I 
 Could See She Looked drawn And Aged. 
   
   
 "Where Is Your Maid, Then, Lady Waldon?" I Asked, For It Seemed to Me 
 That Was One Friend Who Had Served her Through Thick And Thin. 
   
   
 "Ask The Commandant!" She Answered.  "The Poor Foot Thinks He Will 
 Marry Her!  Little She Knows Of The German Method!  I Am Alone!  I Have 
 Not Even A Servant Any Longer!  I Have Walked through The Shadows From 
 The Commandant'S House, Only Lighting This Lantern After I Was Inside 
 The Hedge.  Nobody Knows I Am Here.  One Watchman Was Asleep;  The 
 Others Did Not See Me.  All You Need fear Is Those Greeks.  As Long As 
 They Don'T Suspect I Am Here We Can Talk Safely." 
   
   
 I Tumbled out Of Bed on The Far Side, And Went To Waken The Other Two. 
 After A Hurried consultation We Decided my Tent Was The Best For The 
 Interview, Because Of The Light That Had Burned in it Nearly Always 
 While I Was So Deathly Ill.  We Wrapped ourselves In blankets, And Fred 
 Went And Shook Simba Awake. 
   
   
 "Watch Those Greeks!" Be Ordered him.  "If They Show Signs Of Life, 
 Come And Give The Alarm!" 
   
   
 Then We Set Lady Waldon'S Lantern On The Ground In the Back Of My Tent, 
 Closed the Tent Up, And Foregathered.  There Was One Chair.  We Three 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 271 
 Sat On The Bed. 
   
   
 "Before We Begin," Said Fred, "We'D Like Some Kind Of Proof, Lady 
 Waldon, That Your Overture Is Honest!  I'Ve No Need to Labor The Point. 
  Until Now You Have Been Our Implacable Enemy.  Why Should We Believe 
 You Are Our Friend To-Night ?" 
   
   
 She Sighed. "I Don'T Expect Friendship," She Answered.  "You And I Are 
 In Deep Water, And Must Find A Straw That May Float Us All!  If I Can 
 Help You To Escape Out Of The Country I Will.  If You Can Help Me, You 
 Must!  If You Don'T Escape There Are Worse Things In store For You Than 
 You Imagine!  If You Tell Your Secret Now, They Intend To Prevent Your 
 Telling It To Any One Else Afterward!  And Unless You Tell They Intend 
 To Take Terrible Steps To Compel You!  As For Me--They Have Discovered 
 That After All I Know Nothing, And Am Of No Further Use To Them!  They 
 Have Not Said So, But It Is Very Clear To Me How The Land Lies. 
 Professor Schillingschen Is Drunk To-Night;  He Came Home With His Car 
 And Mouth Bleeding,  And Has Plied the Whisky Bottle Freely Ever Since 
 Until He Fell Asleep An Hour And A Half Ago.  He Boasted over His Cups. 
  They Are Simply Using This Long Wait For Major Schunk, Who Is Supposed 
 To Be Coming From The Coast, To Gather Additional Evidence Against You. 
  They Have Men Out Following Your Trail Back By The Way You Came, And 
 If They Can Find No Genuine Evidence They Will Invent What They Need; 
 The Purpose Is To Get You Legally Behind The Bars;  And If You Ever 
 Come Out Again Alive That Would Not Be Their Fault!" 
   
   
 "What Do You Propose?" Asked fred. 
   
   
 "Escape!" She Answered excitedly.  Then Another Thought Made Her Clench 
 Her Fists.  "Is It Possible You Told Professor Schillingschen Your 
 Secret To-Day?  Did One Of You Tell Him?  Is That Why He Is Drunk?" 
   
   
 She Saw By Our Faces That That Fear Was Groundless, But A Greater One, 
 That She Might Not Be Able To Convince Us, Seized her Next And She Made 
 Such An Excited gesture That The Shawl She Wore Over Her Head And 
 Shoulders Fell Away And Her Long Hair Came Tumbling Down Like A Witch'S. 
   
   
         "Listen!  There Is Nothing That You Men From Your Point Of View 
 Could Say Too Bad About Me!  I Know!  I Have Been In the Pay Of Germany 
 For Many Years, But What You Don'T Know Is How They Got Me In the Toils 
 And Kept Me In, Dragging Me Down From One Degradation To Another!  They 
 Have Dragged me Down So Far At Last That I Am Not Much More Use To 
 Them.  If We Were In british Territory They Would Simply Expose Me To 
 The British Government And Save Themselves The Trouble Of Ending My 
 Career.  They Did That To Mrs. Winstin Willoughby, And Lord James Rait, 
 And Fifty Others;  It Was So Easy To Put Incriminating Evidence Against 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 272 
 Them In the Hands Of The Public Prosecutor.  Lord James Rait Died in 
 Dartmoor Prison--A Common Felon.  I Shall Not!  But Believe Me--I Am 
 Certain As I Sit Here That They Only Wait For My Return To British 
 East!  To Have Me Murdered here Might Start Inconvenient Rumors That 
 Would Lead To Unanswerable Questions!  It Was Proposed to Me To-Day 
 That I Should Return To British East On The Launch!" 
   
   
 "Then Why Talk About Escaping?" Fred wondered.  "Why Not Go?" 
   
   
 "Because," She Hissed emphatically, "Don'T You See, You Stupid!--If 
 They Send Me Back It Will Be To My Doom!  My One Chance Is To Escape 
 From Their Clutches--Get Into Touch With British Officials--And Save 
 The Situation By Telling My Own Tale First!" 
   
   
 Fred was In no Hurry To Be Convinced.  I Was Already For Accepting Her 
 Story And Helping Her Out;  But That Was Perhaps Because I Was A Sick 
 Man, Too Recently Recovered from The Gates Of Death To Care To Be Hard 
 On Any One. 
   
   
 "I Still Don'T See Your Danger," Fred told Her.  "In All My Life I Fail 
 To Recall A Single Instance Of The British Courts Passing a Severe 
 Sentence On A Spy.  If You'Ll Excuse My Saying So, Your Story About 
 Lord James Rait Is Incorrect.  I Recall The Case Well.  He Got A 
 Twenty-Year Sentence For Forgery." 
   
   
 "True!" She Answered.  "And Mrs. Winstin Willoughby Was Sentenced to 
 Fifteen Years For Theft!  Lord James Did Forge--In The Way Of Business 
 For The German Government!  Jane Winstin Willoughby Did Steal--For The 
 Same Blackguard Masters!  Do You Think They Will Expose Me As A Spy? 
 That Would Be Too Clumsy, Even For Such Bullies As They Are!  Do You 
 Suppose They Could Have Dragged me Down To This Without Some Sword Held 
 Over Me?  They Can Prove That I Committed a Crime In england Several 
 Years Ago.  Oh, Yes, I Am A Criminal!  I Raised a Check.  It Was A 
 Check On A German Bank, Given To Me By A German On Behalf Of A 
 Countryman Of His.  I Needed money Desperately, And The Man Who Brought 
 The Check To Me Suggested i Should Raise It!  Since Then I Have Tried 
 To Repay That Money With Interest A Dozen Times, But They Have Always 
 Laughed and Told Me They Preferred to Leave Matters As They Are." 
   
   
 "What Would Be The Use Of Returning To British Territory, Then?" Asked 
 Fred.  "If They Hold That Over You, They Can Denounce You At Any Time." 
   
   
 "Not They!" She Answered.  "Not If I Get There First!  I Know Too Much! 
  I Can Tell Too Much!  I Can Prove Too Much!  If I Were Once Arrested 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 273 
 On The Charge Of Raising That Check, No Government In the World Would 
 Listen To Me.  But If I Can Tell My Story First, And Confess About The 
 Check, And Explain Why The Charge Is Likely To Be Brought Against Me, 
 Then There Will Be Downing Street Officials Who Know How To Whisper To 
 The German Embassy Words That Will Frighten Them Into Silence!  I Can 
 Prove Too Much Against The German Government, If Only I Can Tell My 
 Tale Before They Crush Me!" 
   
   
 "Why Not Write It?" Asked fred, And It Seemed to Me There Was Humor In 
 His Eye, But She Only Detected stubbornness, And Laughed scornfully. 
   
   
 "My Own Maid Even Gave Them The Letters Written To Me By My Sister!  If 
 I Should Be Suspected of Writing They Would Never Rest Until They Had 
 The Letter!" 
   
   
 "Give Me Your Letter To Mail!" Suggested fred maliciously. 
   
   
 "Deluded man!" She Sneered. "All The Letters You Have Written Since You 
 Came To Muanza Lie In a Drawer In the Commandant'S Desk!  I Myself Have 
 Read Them!" 
   
   
 In The Dark, With Shifting Shadows Thrown By The Cheap Trade Lantern, 
 It Was Difficult To Judge What Was Going On Behind That Beard Of 
 Fred'S.  I Had Begun To Suspect He Was Coming Over To My Way Of 
 Thinking and Would Yield To Her Presently, But He Returned to The 
 Attack--Very Directly And Abruptly. 
   
   
 "What Is It You Know Against The German Government?" He Demanded, And 
 Sat With His Jaw In the Palm Of His Hand Waiting For Her Answer. 
   
   
 "Why Should I Tell You?  Why Should I Put Myself Completely In your 
 Power?" 
   
   
 "Why Not?" Asked fred. 
   
   
 "What Would Prevent You From Stealing My Thunder, And Telling My Story 
 As Your Own--Leaving Me At The Germans' Mercy?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 274 
 "Something Very Potent That I Think You Would Not Understand If I 
 Talked of It," Fred answered.  "Listen To Me Now A Minute.  I Haven'T 
 Conferred with My Friends Here, As You Know.  Whatever I Tell You Is 
 Subject To Their Agreeing With Me.  The Only Condition On Which I, For 
 One, Would Consent To Taking Part With You In anything--After All Our 
 Experience Of You!--Would Be That You Should Put Yourself So Completely 
 In Our Power That We Could Feel We Had Your Safekeeping.  On Those 
 Terms I Would Be Willing To Do My Best To Help You Out." 
   
   
 "I Agree To That Like A Shot!" Said Will;  And I Nodded. 
   
   
 "You Mean--?" 
   
   
 "All Or Nothing!" Fred insisted. 
   
   
 "You Mean That You Also, Just Like These Germans, Must Have A Sword To 
 Hold Over Me?" 
   
   
 "I Thought You Wouldn'T Understand!" Fred answered.  "What We Demand, 
 Lady Saffren Walden, Is Proof That You Really Do Give Us Your 
 Confidence.  Without That We Have Nothing To Say To You, And Nothing To 
 Do With You!" 
   
   
 She Broke Down Then And Cried a Little, Tearing Herself With Sobs She 
 Hated to Release.  Suddenly She Raised her Head And Glared at Us 
 Wildly, Dry-Eyed;  Not A Tear Had Accompanied the Sobbing. 
   
   
 "If I Tell You--If You Fail Me After That--I Shall Kill Myself In such 
 Way That You Shall Know--My Blood Is On Your Heads!" 
   
   
 Fred laughed.  It Was No Doubt The Best Thing To Do, But I Wondered how 
 He Managed it. 
   
   
 "Suppose You Begin By Telling Us," He Said.  "We Can Discuss The 
 Blood-Stains Afterward!" 
   
   
 Then She Suddenly Burst Into Her Tale, As If She Had Rehearsed it A 
 Hundred times In readiness To Pour Into The Ears Of The First British 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 275 
 Official Who Had Power Enough To Shield Her.  She Told It Dramatically, 
 In Few Words, Wasting No Breath On Side-Issues, And Without Once 
 Pausing To Explain, Letting Her Words Smash Down The Barriers Of 
 Unbelief And Pave Their Own Way For Explanations Afterward. 
   
   
 "Germany Is Planning To Conquer The World!--Not Now, But Ten Or A Dozen 
 Years From Now!  She Is Getting Ready Ceaselessly!  Part Of The Plan Is 
 To Undermine British Rule In africa By Means Of A Religious Influence 
 Among The Natives.  That Is The Special Duty Of Professor 
 Schillinschen.  As Soon As Possible A Great Native Army Is To Be 
 Trained, And Thoroughly Schooled in the Fanatical Precepts Of Islam. 
 But The German People Are Too Heavily Taxed already, And Refuse To Vote 
 Money For This Miserable Colony, Where The Great Beginning Must Be Made 
 Because It Is Only Here That They Can Work Unsuspected.  So Funds Must 
 Be Found In some Other Way!" 
   
   
 She Paused for Breath.  No Woman Pleading at The Bar Of Justice Could 
 Have Seemed more In earnest.  Of One Thing I Was Quite Sure:  She Had 
 Found It Worth Her While To Convince Us If That Were Possible.  She Was 
 Playing No Half-Hearted game. 
   
   
 "Do You Begin To See Now Why The Germans Are So Set On Finding Tippoo 
 Tib'S Hoard Of Ivory?  Do You Begin To Understand Why They Are 
 Determined, Not Only To Prevent Your Finding It, But To Learn Your 
 Secret?  If Rumor Is One-Half True, The Arab Buried somewhere Enough 
 Ivory To Finance This Plan Of Theirs!  They Have Been Going about The 
 Search Systematically, And Sooner Or Later They Feel They Must Stumble 
 On It.  They Will Not Let You Forestall Them!" 
   
   
 She Paused again.  Her Very Earnestness Exhausted her More Than The 
 Walk Through The Dark In danger Had Done. 
   
   
 "Take Your Time," Fred advised her.  "We'Re All Listening!" 
   
   
 "When I Told You In nairobi That Lord Montdidier Had Been Murdered, I 
 Believed i Was So Near The Truth That You Would Never Know The 
 Difference.  I Knew The Order Had Been Given To Have Him Killed on 
 Board Ship--Given By Men Who Are Accustomed to Be Obeyed--Who Do Not 
 Excuse Failure On Any Ground.  They Feared he Might Be Going To Divulge 
 The Secret Of The Ivory To His Government In london.  Oh, I Tell You 
 They Stop At Nothing!  To-Day London Is The Ivory Market Of The World, 
 But They Have Their Arrangements Made For Transferring That Center Of 
 Trade To Hamburg!  They Mean First To Crush Competitors, And Then 
 Monopolize!  They Hope The Ivory Is In this Country.  In that Case 
 Their Task Will Be Easy.  But If It Should Be Found In british East, 
 They Are All Ready With The Necessary Men Of Influence To Apply For A 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 276 
 Mining Or Agricultural Concession, And They Will Fence That Place Off 
 So Thoroughly That No One Will Ever Be The Wiser Until They Have 
 Carried the Ivory Out Of The Country!" 
   
   
 "They Could Never Get It Out Of British East Without The Government 
 Knowing," Objected fred;  But She Laughed at Him. 
   
   
 "If Worse Came To The Worst, They Are Ready With An Offer To Exchange 
 Ten Times The Territory Elsewhere For Just That Small Section Of The 
 Country.  They Would Give Up German New Guinea, Or Southwest 
 Africa--Anything!  They Have Fooled the French And Russian Governments 
 Until They Are Ready To Bring Pressure To Bear On England 
 Diplomatically To Induce Her To Make Almost Any Bargain Of That Kind 
 That The Germans Want.  They Are Even Willing To Concede To England The 
 Whole Of Abyssinia, Which Nobody Owns Yet, And To Back Her Up Against 
 The Claims Of France And Italy!  Why Should They Not Be Willing To Make 
 Temporary Concessions, When All Africa Is To Be Theirs In ten Years' 
 Time!  They Will Give To-Day, And With The Help Of The Money That Ivory 
 Will Bring They Will Create An Army That Shall Take Away To-Morrow!" 
   
   
 "But How Can You Prove All This?" Fred asked her. 
   
   
 "How?  I Know The Names Of The Men Who Are Preaching Germany'S Sermons 
 All Through British East!  I Know All Schillingschen'S Secrets!  Why 
 Should I Not?  I Have Suffered enough!  He Is A Drunken Brute Nearly 
 Always After The Sun Goes Down, And His Caresses Are Disgusting;  I 
 Have Endured them Until I Know All He Knows!  Now He Realizes That I 
 Know His Secrets And Have None Of My Own To Tell, So He Hopes To Send 
 Me To My Doom At The Hands Of The Government I Have Betrayed too Many 
 Times!  What Is The Use Of My Pretending To Be Better Than I Am?  I Am 
 A Spy--A Traitress--A Divorced woman With Worse Than No Reputation!  I 
 Am Not A Person Likely To Be Shown Much Mercy!  I Never Would Have 
 Recanted unless The End Of My Rope Had Come!  Now I Know I Must Buy My 
 Pardon--I Must Earn It--I Must Pay For It With Solid Value!  Luckily I 
 Can Do That!  I Do Not Ask You Men For Mercy.  I Know What Is In store 
 For You If You Do Not Escape!  I Offer To Help You To Escape, In 
 Exchange For Helping Me!" 
   
   
 "Better Be More Precise!" Suggested fred.  "Exactly What Is In store 
 For Us?" 
   
   
 She Pointed her Finger At Me.  "You Went Out Of Bounds To-Day With 
 Schillingschen!  Well And Good;  He Was With You.  But You, And You--" 
 She Pointed at Fred and Will.  "--Went Without Permission.  Why Do You 
 Suppose They Over-Looked such A Splendid Chance Of Jailing You Legally? 
  Schillingschen Came Up To The Commandant'S House In a Towering 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 9 ("Speak Ye, And So Do") Pg 277 
 Passion, Demanding The Immediate Arrest And Close Confinement Of All 
 Three Of You.  He Was Only Persuaded to Wait A Few Days Longer Because 
 A Runner Has Come In with Word That The Bodies Of Several Masai Whom 
 You Shot On This Side Of The German Border Have Been Found!  The 
 Bones--The Bullets Found Among The Bones--And Cartridge Cases That Will 
 Fit Your Rifles Are Being Brought To Muanza!  After That--The Deluge, 
 My Friends!  That Is Why Professor Schillingschen Gets Drunk And Sings 
 Himself To Sleep In spite Of Your Being Still At Liberty!     Either 
 Escape Before That Evidence Reaches Muanza, Or Make Up Your Minds For 
 The Worst!  It Is Growing Late--Answer Me--Do You Agree?" 
    
   
 Fred glanced once At Each Of Us.  We Both Nodded. 
   
   
 "We Agree With Reservations," He Said. 
   
   
 "What Are They?  Man--Don'T Be A Fool!  Don'T Fritter The Lives Of All 
 Of Us Away!" 
   
   
 "They'Re Simple.  We'Ve A Friend In the Jail Here.  His Name'S Brown." 
   
   
 "That Drunkard?  Leave Him!  He'S Worthless!" 
   
   
 "We'Ve A Servant On The Chain-Gang.  His Name Is Kazimoto." 
   
   
 "A Nigger?  You'D Risk Another Day In this Place For A Nigger?  How 
 Absurd!  They'Re Never Grateful.  They Don'T See Things From The White 
 Man'S Standpoint.  They Don'T Expect Ideal Treatment.  Leave Him His 
 Wages And Tell Him To Follow When They Let Him Off The Chain!" 
   
   
 "And We Have A String Of Porters," Fred continued.  "We Will Not Leave 
 Muanza Without The Porters, Our Man Kazimoto, And Mr. Brown Of Lumbwa!" 
   
   
 "You Are Mad!  You Are Crazy!" 
   
   
 "We Are The Men You Have Invited to Trust You,"  Fred answered kindly. 
         "Those Are Our Conditions.  We Will Not 'Bate One Iota!  Take 
 'Em Or Leave 'Em, Lady Waldon!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 278 
 Lean, Loveless, Hungry Lanes Are These! 
         The Longest Has An End. 
 Ill Luck Tasted to The Bitter Lees 
         Soonest Shall Mend. 
 >From Out The Foe'S Ranks If Heaven Please 
         Shall Come Your Friend. 
   
   
 We Came To No Fixed decision That Night, Although We Knew There Was No 
 Alternative.  She Held Out, In the Vain Hope Of Making Us Agree To 
 Leave Kazimoto And Brown Behind.  The Porters, She Agreed, Might Come 
 In Very Handy, Although It Was At Least Doubtful That We Should Be Able 
 To Slip Out Of Muanza By Land.  The Germans Had Taken Latterly To 
 Counting Our Porters Every Morning, To Supplying Them With Ration Money 
 Once Every Day, And To Sending The Bill To Us By An Askari, Who Waited 
 For The Cash.  At Any Rate, She Conceded the Porters, Provided we Would 
 Leave The Two Others Behind.  And Of Course We Were Adamant. 
   
   
 She Left Us An Hour And A Half Before Dawn, We Letting Her Return Alone 
 Because Of The Greater Danger Of Detection If We Had Tried to Escort 
 Her.  It Was After She Had Gone, While We Sat Listening For The Sound 
 Of A Challenge That Would Have Ruined all Her Hopes, If Not Ours, That 
 Will Conceived the Bright Idea Which Finally Saved us. 
   
   
 "The Heinies Don'T Know That We'Re Wise To Their Game," He Said 
 Cheerfully.  His Ears Were Sticking Out From His Head And He Had The 
 Naughty Boy Look That Always Presaged wisdom.  "Why Don'T We Play That 
 Card For All It'S Worth?" 
   
   
 "We Need five Cards To Make Even A Poker Hand," Fred objected. 
   
   
 "Will A Full House Suit You--Aces And Queens?" He Answered.  "I'Ve 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 279 
 Named you One Ace Already.  Ace Number Two Is The Fact That These 
 German Officials Are Brutes Pure And Simple--Brutes Who Don'T 
 Understand How To Be Anything Else, With Brutal Low Cunning and No 
 Other Cleverness." 
   
   
 "That Sounds Like The Joker!" Said Fred. 
   
   
 "It'S Ace Number Two,  I Tell You!  The Third Is The Fact That Brown Of 
 Lumbwa Can Talk With Kazimoto In the Night Through That Corrugated iron 
 Partition!  Three Aces--Count 'Em--One, Two, Three!  Queens?  One Of 
 'Em Left A Few Minutes Ago!  The Other'S The Dhow!  We'Ll Call That 
 Blessed boat The Queen Of Sheba For Luck!  The Queen Of Sheba Got To 
 Her Journey'S End, And Found More Than She Expected, And By The Lights 
 Of Little Old Broadway, So Shall We!  I'Ve Dealt The Cards--Is It Up To 
 Me To Play Them?" 
   
   
 "Your Hand, America!  Talk It Over First, Though!  There'S An Awful Lot 
 Hangs On The Game!" Said Fred. 
   
   
 I Fell Asleep While They Argued over The Points Of Will'S Strategy. 
 Africa Is A Land Of Sudden Death And Swift Recoveries, But For A 
 Convalescent Man I Had Been Through A Strenuous Day And Had Right To Be 
 Tired out.  It Was Broad Daylight When I Awoke, And Breakfast Was 
 Ready.  Fred and Will Had Returned from Their March Around The Township 
 With The Native Band, And To My Surprise The Commandant Was Standing In 
 Front Of Their Tent, Talking With Them.  I Threw On A Jacket And Joined 
 Them At Table. 
   
   
 "I Don'T Understand You," Said The Commandant.  "Either Talk German Or 
 Speak More Slowly!" 
   
   
 Will Took A Purchase On His Stock Of Patience And Began Again. 
   
   
 "If Our Porters Run Away, You'Ll Blame Us.  We Don'T Care To Be Blamed 
 For What Is None Of Our Fault.  So If You Don'T Put 'Em All On A Chain 
 And Lock 'Em Up Nights, We'Re Going To Discontinue Paying For Their 
 Keep.  That'S Flat!  You Can Work 'Em If You Like.  Let 'Em Help Keep 
 The Township Clean.  We'Ll Pay Their Board And Wages As Long As You'Re 
 Responsible For Their Not Escaping!  And Say!  If You Want To Get Real 
 Work Out Of 'Em I'Ll Give You A Tip.  There Never Was A Savage Like 
 That Kazimoto Of Ours For Getting Results Out Of That Gang.  Put Him On 
 The Same Chain With The Lot Of 'Em, And We'Ll All Be Satisfied!  I 
 Don'T Presume To Be Running Your Jail, But I'M Telling You Facts 
 That'Ll Hurt Nobody.  Those Porters 'Ud Be A Darn Sight Better Off With 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 280 
 Plenty Of Exercise." 
   
   
 "Do I Understand You To Ask That Your Porters Be Made Prisoners?" Asked 
 The Commandant. 
   
   
 "You Get Me Exactly!" Said Will. 
   
   
 The Commandant Grunted, Nodded, Waited for Us To Get Up And Salute Him, 
 Grunted again With Disgust When We Did Nothing Of The Sort, Turned on 
 His Heel, And Walked off.  We Spent An Hour On Tenterhooks, And I Began 
 To Believe The German Had Simply Become More Suspicious Than Ever And 
 Would Keep Closer Watch On Us Without Troubling at All About The Men. 
 But At The End Of An Hour We Saw The Porters Rounded up, And A Chain 
 Fetched out That Was Long Enough To Hold Them All.  They Disappeared 
 Within The Boma Wall.  Ten Minutes Later Suddenly Will Pointed toward 
 The Southward. 
   
   
 "Look!  See What Happens When The Roofs Of Shanty-Town Take Fire!" 
   
   
 Flames Went Up From The Dry Grass Roof Of One Of The Rectangular 
 Swahili Huts.  Within Thirty Seconds The Askaris On Guard At The Boma 
 Began Firing Their Rifles In the Air As Fast As They Could Pull The 
 Trigger And Reload.  Within Two Minutes The Chain-Gang Was Headed for 
 Jail, Where It Was Locked behind Doors, In order That Every Askari In 
 Muanza Might Be Free To Pile Arms And Hurry To The Fire. 
 It Was Not Only Askaris;  The Whole Township Turned out As To The 
 Circus, With Schubert And His Long Kiboko Ruling The Riot.  The Other 
 Sergeants Were In evidence, But Quiet, Imperturbable Men Compared to 
 Their Feldwebel, Plying Their Kibokos Without Wasting Words, Stirring 
 The Whole World Within Their Reach Into Action--If Not Orderly And 
 Purposeful, Action, At Least. 
   
   
 Schubert Climbed on A Roof Well To Windward And Safe From The Sparks, 
 And Directed proceedings In a Voice That Out-Thundered the Mob'S Roar 
 And Crackling Flames.  To Illustrate His Meaning He Seized handsful Of 
 The Thatch On Which He Stood And Tore Them Out, To The Huge Discontent 
 Of The Owner.  The Crowd Saw What He Wanted and Began At Once Tearing 
 Off Roofs In a Wide Circle Around The Fire So As To Isolate It, 
 Schubert Demonstrating Until Scarcely A Handful Of Thatch Remained on 
 The Roof He Honored and He Had To Stand Awkwardly On The Crisscross 
 Poles, While The Owner And His Women Wept. 
   
   
 Within Ten Minutes After The Commencement Of The Fire There Was Under 
 Way A Regular Orgy Of Roof Pulling.  Whoever Had An Enemy Ran And Tore 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 281 
 His Roof Off, And There Were Several Instances Of Reciprocity, Two 
 Families Tearing Off Each Other'S Roofs, Each Believing The Other To Be 
 At The Fire. 
   
   
 Muanza Was A Furious Place--A Riot--A Home Of Din And Tumult While The 
 Fire Lasted, And When It Was Put Out It Took Another Hour To Stop The 
 Fights Between Victims Of The Flames And Unofficial Salvage-Men. 
   
   
 "D'Ye Get The Idea Of It?" Asked will.  "D'Ye See The Achilles Heel?" 
   
   
 In That Second, I Believe, Fred oakes And I Betrayed ourselves Genuine 
 Adventurers.  Any Fool Could Have Talked glibly About Setting The Town 
 On Fire;  Any Coward Could Have Yelped about The Danger Of It, And 
 Improbability Of Success.  It Needed adventurers To Size Up Instantly 
 All The Odds Against The Idea, Recognize The One Infinitesimal Chance, 
 And Plump For It.  And We Were There! 
   
   
 "It'S The Only Chance We'Ve Got!" Agreed fred.  "I'M For It!  Lead On 
 America!" 
   
   
 "I Believe We Can Pull It Off!" Said I.  "I'M Game!" 
   
   
 After That It Seemed like Waste Of Time To Talk, Yet Every Single 
 Detail Of Our Plan Had To Be Thought Out Beforehand And Mentally 
 Rehearsed, If We Hoped to Have Even The One Slim Chance We Built On. 
 Luckily Professor Schillingschen Continued drunk, Which Meant That He 
 Would Sleep Early And Give Lady Waldon Another Chance To Pay Us A 
 Nocturnal Visit.  One Of Our Boys Told Us That According To Market 
 Gossips The Commandant Was Drinking With Him And The Two Of Them Were 
 Watching a Sort Of Prolonged native Nautch They Had Staged in seclusion 
 On The Hill. 
   
   
 The Next Day We Learned there Was To Be A Murder Trial Of No Less Than 
 Nine Men--An Event Likely To Keep The Whole Garrison'S Attention Drawn 
 Away From Us.  And After The Trial Would Come The Hanging (It Would 
 Have Been Impossible To Convince Any One, German Or Native, That The 
 Verdict And Sentence Were Not Foregone Conclusions).  The Stars In 
 Their Courses Appeared to Be On Our Side.  For Several Nights To Come 
 The Worst The Moon Could Do Would Be To Show A Sliver Of Silver 
 Crescent For An Hour Or Two. 
   
   
 Lady Waldon Came Earlier That Night.  When We Outlined our Plan To Her 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 282 
 Roughly She Argued against It At First--And It Was Impossible 
 Far-Fetched--Ridiculous.  She Insisted again On Our Simply Sneaking 
 Away By Night With Her.  But Fred wasted no Time On Argument, And Took 
 The Upper Hand. 
   
   
 "Take Us Or Leave Us, Lady Waldon, As We Are!  We'Ve An Unwritten Rule 
 That None Of Us Has Ever Thought Of Breaking, That Binds Us To Obey The 
 Member Of The Party Whose Plan We Have Adopted.  On This Occasion We 
 Have Agreed to Mr. Yerkes' Plan, And You'Ve Got To Obey Him Implicitly 
 If You Want To Have Part With Us!  We Will Not Leave Our Men Or Brown 
 Of Lumbwa Behind, And We Will Not Change The Plan By A Hair'S Breadth! 
 Will You Or Won'T You Obey?" 
   
   
 She Yielded then Very Quickly.  It Seemed a Relief To Her At Last To 
 Subject Her Views To Those Of Men Whose Purpose Was Merely Honest. 
 Will Took Up The Reins At Once. 
   
   
 "We'Ve Talked over Buying The Boat," He Said, "But That'S Hopeless. 
 The More We Paid For It The Louder The Owner Would Brag.  The Germans 
 Would Be 'On' In a Minute.  We'Ve Simply Got To Steal It.  It'S Up To 
 You To Find Out The Man'S Proper Name And Address, And We'Ll Send Him 
 The Money From The First British Post-Office We Reach." 
   
   
 "Don Quixote De La Mancha!" She Said Critically.  "Well--We Steal The 
 Boat And You Pay For It Afterward.  The Owner Will Think You Are Crazy, 
 And If The Germans Ever Discover It They Will Take The Money Away From 
 Him By Some Legal Process.  But Go On!" 
   
   
 "We'Ve Plenty Of Money," Said Will, "So There'S No Need to Worry About 
 Too Many Supplies To Begin With.  But We'Ll Need scant Rations For 
 Ourselves And All Our Men Until We Reach Some Place Where More Are To 
 Be Bought.  And We'Ve Got To Get Them On Board The Dhow Secretly.  The 
 First Question Is, How To Do That." 
   
   
 She Told Us At Once Of A Path Going Round By The Back Of The Hill 
 Behind Us, That Would Make The Trip To The Dhow In the Dark A Matter Of 
 Over Two Miles, But That Avoided all Sentries And Habitations.  We 
 Agreed that All Three Of Us Should Climb To The Top Of The Hill, Which 
 Was Not Out Of Bounds--And Study The Track Next Morning.  On The 
 Fateful Night We Must Take Our Chance, Just As She Had Done, Of 
 Avoiding The Sleepy-Eyed sentry Who Kept Watch Over The Greeks. 
   
   
 "We'Ll Talk To Brown Of Lumbwa On The Morning and Afternoon March 
 Around The Township," Will Went On.  "Brown Must Whisper To Kazimoto 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 283 
 Through The Corrugated iron Partition In the Jail At Night, And Have 
 Them All Ready To Break Loose At The Signal And Bring Him Along With 
 Them.  We Must Be Careful To Show Brown Just Where The Dhow Is.  He Has 
 Been Sober Quite A While.  Maybe He'Ll Remember If We Direct Him 
 Carefully." 
   
   
 "What Is To Be The Signal?" She Asked. 
   
   
 "Just What I'M Coming To," Said Will.  "A Fire-Alarm On The First Windy 
 Night!  The Next Question Is, Who Is To Start The Fire?  We'Ll Need a 
 Good One!  Yet If We Do It, We'Re Likely To Be Caught By The Crowd 
 Coming Running To Deal With It." 
   
   
 "Coutlass!" She Answered suddenly.  "Coutlass And His Two Friends!" 
   
   
 "You'Ll Perhaps Pardon Me," Fred answered, "But None Of Us Would Trust 
 Those Greeks As Far As A Hen Could Swim In alcohol!" 
   
   
 "Yet You Must!  Leave Them To Me!  They Don'T Know That The Sand In my 
 Glass Has Run Down.  Let Me Go To Them Presently, Pretending That I 
 Went Direct To Them And Am Afraid Of Being Seen By You.  I Will Tell 
 Them That The Germans Want A Good Excuse For Putting You Three Men In 
 Jail And That They Will He Sent Away Free As A Reward If They Will 
 Start A Fire And Charge You Afterward With Arson!  I Will Tell Them To 
 Choose The First Windy Night, So As To Have A Really Spectacular Blaze 
 Worth Committing Perjury About!" 
   
   
 "Better Arrange A Signal," Will Advised.  "They Might Otherwise Fire 
 Before We Were Ready!" 
   
   
 "Very Well.  You Men Give Me The Word At Midday Of The Day Of The 
 Start, And I Will Spread Red, White And Blue Laundry On The Roof Of The 
 Commandant'S House For The Greeks To See." 
   
   
 "Good Enough!" Agreed will.  "Now One More Stunt!  We Simply Must Have 
 Firearms.  The Germans Have Taken Ours Away And Locked them Up.  At A 
 Pinch I Suppose We Could Manage With One Rifle, Provided we Had Lots Of 
 Ammunition.  We Would Rather Have One Each.  In fact, The More The 
 Merrier.  One We Must Have!  What About It?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 284 
 She Thought For Several Minutes.  At Last She Told Us That One Of The 
 Commandant'S Rifles And One Of Schillingschen'S Stood Leaning In a 
 Corner Of The Living-Room Beside A Book-Case.  Whether She Could Make 
 Away With One Or Both Of Those Without Detection She Did Not Know, And 
 She Would Have To Use Her Wits Regarding ammunition.  It Was Always 
 Kept Locked up. 
   
   
 "Why Not Kill An Askari And Take His Rifle And Cartridges?" She Asked. 
 "The Sentry On Duty Watching The Greeks Will Be In the Way.  Knock Him 
 On The Head From Behind!" 
   
   
 "Thank You!" Grinned will, Exchanging Glances With Us.  "We Shall Have 
 About Enough On Our Consciences Setting Fire To Half The Township. 
 We'Ll Not Kill Except In self-Defense." 
   
   
 "But You Won'T Set The Town On Fire!  The Greeks Will Do That!" 
   
   
 "Don'T Let'S Argue Ethics!" Fred interrupted, For Will'S Cars Were 
 Getting Red.  "Can You Tell Us For Certain, Lady Waldon, Whether All 
 The Askaris And German Sergeants Really Run To A Fire?  Or Do A Certain 
 Number Remain In the Boma?" 
   
   
 "Oh, I Know About That," She Answered.  "Until The Prisoners Are All 
 Locked in--That Is To Say, In case Of Fire In the Daytime--Six Or Eight 
 Askaris Remain Inside The Boma.  The Minute They Are Locked in, If The 
 Fire Is Serious, And In case Of Fire By Night, They All Go Except Two, 
 Who Stand On The Eastern Boma Wall, One At Each Corner.  From There 
 They Are Supposed to Be Able To See On Every Side Except The 
 Water-Front.  Nobody Guards The Water-Front;  I Don'T Know Why, Unless 
 It Is That The Gate On That Side Is Kept Locked almost Always And The 
 Wall Runs Along The Water'S Edge." 
   
   
 "As A Matter Of Fact," Said I, "Those Two Sentries On The Wall Will Be 
 Too Busy Staring at The Fire, If The Greeks Really Make A Big One, To 
 See Anything Else Unless We March By Under Their Noses With A Brass 
 Band." 
   
   
 "Bah!" Sneered lady Waldon.  "If I Get That Rifle I Would Dare Shoot 
 Them Both For You Myself!" 
   
   
 "If You Overstep One Detail Of Will'S Plan, I Guarantee To Put You 
 Ashore On The First Barren Island We Come To!" Said Fred.  "Leave 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 285 
 Shooting To Us!" 
   
   
 The Next Problem Was To Draw Away From The Greeks The Attention Of The 
 Askari At The Cross-Roads.  We Could Not See Him, For It Was One Of 
 Those Black African Nights When The Stars Look Like Tiny Pin-Pricks And 
 There Are No Shadows Because All Is Dark.  To Go Out And Look What He 
 Was Doing Would Have Been To Arouse His Suspicion.  Yet There Was 
 Always A Chance That He Might Be Patrolling Down Near The Greek Camp; 
 Doubtless Acting On Orders, He Had A Trick Of Approaching Their Tents 
 Very Closely Once In a While. 
   
   
 So When Lady Waldon Had Slipped out Into The Darkness We Lit Half A 
 Dozen Lamps And Started a Concert, Fred playing and We Singing The Sort 
 Of Tunes That Black Men Love.  He Took The Bait, Hook, Sinker, And All; 
  In the Silence At The End Of The First Song We Heard His Butt Ground 
 On The Gravel Just Beyond The Cactus Hedge In front Of Us;  And There 
 He Stayed, We Entertaining Him For An Hour.  By That Time We Were Quite 
 Sure That Lady Waldon Had Passed along The Road Behind Him;  So Fred 
 Went Out And Gave Him Tobacco. 
   
   
 "It'S Time You Went And Looked at Those Greeks Again!" He Advised him. 
 "You Would Be In trouble If They Slipped away In the Night!" 
   
   
 Now That A Plan Of Campaign Was Finally Decided on, There Seemed much 
 Less To Do Than We Had Feared.  Mapping Out In our Minds The Way Round 
 The Back Of The Hill To The Dhow Was Perfectly Simple;  We Went And 
 Smoked on The Hilltop, And Within An Hour After Breakfast Had Every 
 Turn And Twist Memorized.  Fred drew A Chart Of The Track For Safety'S 
 Sake. 
   
   
 Persuading Brown Of Lumbwa Proved unexpectedly To Be Much The Most 
 Difficult Task.  Added to The Fact That The Askaris Who Marched behind 
 And The Greeks Who Marched in front Were Unusually Inquisitive, Brown 
 Himself Was Afraid. 
   
   
 "We'Ll All Be Shot In the Dark!" He Objected. 
   
   
 "Would You Rather," Will Asked, "Be Shot In the Dark With A Run For 
 'Your Money, Or Fed to The Crocks In the Doctor'S Pond?"  And Be Told 
 Him About The Crocodiles To Encourage Him. 
   
   
 "They'Ll Have To Let Me Out Of Jail At The End Of The Month," Brown 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 286 
 Argued. 
   
   
 "Don'T You Believe It!  In less Than A Week From Now We'Ll All Be In on 
 One And The Same Charge Of Filibustering!  They'Ll Not Let You Go Back 
 To British East To Tell Tales About Their Treatment Of The Rest Of Us," 
 Will Assured him. 
   
   
 But Brown Proved tinged with A Little Streak Of Yellow Somewhere.  It 
 Was Not Until The Afternoon March That Fred and Will, One On Either 
 Side Of Him, By Appeals To His Racial Instinct And Recalling The 
 Methods Of The Military Court, Induced him To Do His Part.  Once Having 
 Promised he Vowed he Would See The Thing Through To The End;  But He 
 Was The Weak Link;  He Was Afraid;  And He Disbelieved in the Wisdom Of 
 The Attempt. 
   
   
 It Was Kazimoto In the End Who Kept Brown Up To The Mark, And Shamed 
 Him Into Action By Superior Courage.  Fred found A Chance To Speak To 
 Him As The Long String Rested al Noon Under The Narrow Shade Of A 
 Cactus Hedge, And Warned him In about Fifty Words Of What Was Intended. 
  (The Askaris, Almost As Leg-Weary As The Gang, Were Sprawling at The 
 Far End Of The Line, Gambling at Pitch-And-Toss.) 
   
   
 "Be Sure You Sleep As Near To The Partition As You Can.  Get Details Of 
 The Plan From Mr. Brown, And Then Drill The Porters One By One!  Don'T 
 Let Them Tell One Another.  You Tell Each One Of Them Yourself!" 
   
   
 Then He Walked down The Line And Ordered the Porters In a Loud Voice To 
 Obey The Askaris Implicitly, And To Work Harder In return For The Good 
 Food And Care They Were Getting, Winking at The Same Time Very 
 Emphatically, With The Eye The Askaris Could Not See. 
   
   
 The Night Work Was The Hardest., Because, Although We Were Quite Sure 
 About Direction, Even In the Dark, It Was Another Matter To Feel Our 
 Way And Carry Unaccustomed loads.  By Day We Decided what To Take And 
 What To Leave Behind, And We Cut Down What To Take With Us To The 
 Irreducible, Dangerous Minimum.  Then We Broke That Up Into Thirty- Or 
 Forty-Pound Packages, So That When We All Three Made The Trip To The 
 Dhow The Most We Took At One Time Was About A Hundred pounds' Weight. 
 In The Condition I Was In i Could Take Not More Than One Trip To The 
 Others' Two;  After The First It Was Agreed that I Would Better Stay 
 Behind And Keep An Eye On The Askari.  The Minute He Showed symptoms Of 
 Becoming Inquisitive I Was To Invent Some Way Of Keeping His Attention; 
  So All Unsuspected by Him I Lay In the Sand By The Roadside Within 
 Three Yards Of Him, While The Ants Crawled over Me And He Dozed leaning 
 On His Rifle.  Once A Long Snake Crawled over My Wrist And My Very 
 Marrow Curdled with Fear And Loathing;  But Except For Mosquitoes, Who 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 287 
 Were Legion And Sucked their Fill, There Was No Other Contretemps.  I 
 Don'T Know What I Would Have Done If The Askari Had Taken Alarm And Set 
 Off To Investigate.  I Trusted to Intuition Should That Happen. 
   
   
 The Work Of Arranging The Stuff In the Dhow Was The Most Difficult Of 
 All, Because We Dared not Light A Lantern, Yet We Also Dared not Stow 
 Things Carelessly For Fear Of Confusion When The Hour Of Action Came. 
 The Space Was Ridiculously Small For Ourselves And All Those Men, And 
 Every Inch Had To Be Economized.  In addition To That The Dhow Had To 
 Be Worked backward Off The Mud Far Enough To Be Shoved off Easily, And 
 Then Made Fast By A Rope To The Bushes In such Way As Not To Be 
 Noticeable.  Most Of The Ropes Turned out To Be Rather Rotten, And We 
 Could Only Guess At The Condition Of The Sails;  The Feel Of Them In 
 The Dark Gave Us Small Assurance.  But Fortunately We Had A Couple Of 
 Hundred feet Of Good Half-Inch Manila In camp With Us,  And That Fred 
 And Will Took Out And Stowed in the Hold The Night Following. 
   
   
 We Bought Such Things At The D.O.A.G. As We Could Without Arousing 
 Suspicion, As, For Instance, A Quantity Of German Dried pea-Soup--Not 
 That The Porters Would Take To It Kindly, But It Would Go A Long Way 
 Among Them At A Pinch.  Live Stock We Did Not Dare Buy, For Fear Of The 
 Noise It Would Make;  But We Laid In some Eggs And Bananas.  Most Of 
 The Thirty-Pound Loads Were Rice. 
   
   
 It Troubled us Sorely To Leave Our Good Tents, Beds, And Equipment 
 Behind, Yet All We Could Take Was The Blankets And One Gladstone Bag 
 Packed with Clothes For Us All.  Kettles And Pots And Pans Were A Noisy 
 Nuisance, Yet We Had To Have Them, And Blankets For All Those Porters, 
 Who Would Escape From Jail Practically Naked, Were An Essential;  But 
 Fortunately We Had A Sixty-Pound Bale Of Trade-Blankets Among Our Loads. 
   
   
 Not One Word Did We Exchange All This While With Coutlass And His 
 Friends.  Not One Overture Did We Make To Them, Or They To Us.  But 
 There Was No Doubt Of Their Intention To Do Their Worst.  They Gloated 
 Over Us --Eyed us With Lofty Disdain And Scornful Superior Knowledge. 
 They Were So Full Of The Notion Of Having Us Jailed for Their Misdeed 
 That They Positively Ached to Come And Jeer At Us, And I Believe Were 
 Only Saved from Doing That By The Shortness Of The Time. 
   
   
 At Last, Three Days After Decision Had Been Reached, We Threw Our 
 Blankets With A Red one Uppermost Over The Top Of Both Tents In the 
 Sun;  And Within Thirty Minutes After That Lady Saffren Waldon Had 
 Spread On The Commandant'S Roof A Blue Cotton Dress, A White Petticoat, 
 And A Blazing Red piece Of Silken Stuff.  There And Then The Greeks And 
 The Goanese Pledged one Another Out In the Open With Copious Draughts 
 In Turn From The Neck Of One Whisky Bottle, And We Began To Pray They 
 Might Not Get Too Drunk Before Night.  Judging By Their Meaning Glances 
 At Us, They Considered us Their Mortal And Cruel Enemies Whom It Would 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 288 
 Be An Act Of Sublime Virtue To Bring To Book. 
   
   
 The Trial Of The Natives For Murder Had Taken Place, Accompanied by The 
 Usual Amount Of Thrashing Of Witnesses And The Usual Stir Throughout 
 The Countryside.  These Were Charged with Having Murdered an Askari 
 Near Their Village--A Big Bully Sent To Arrest A Man, Who Had Taken 
 Leave To Help Himself To More Than Rations, And Had Made A Lot Too Free 
 With The Village Women.  So German Military Honor Had To Be Upheld 
 Exemplarily.  Condign Vengeance Was Sure And Swift.  The Execution Was 
 To Take Place On The Drill-Ground On The Day We Chose For Our Departure. 
   
   
 There Was No Risk Of Investigations That Day.  Had We Known It, We 
 Could Have Gone Away In all Likelihood In broad Daylight, So Busy Was 
 The Garrison In marshaling Into Place And Policing The Swarms Of 
 Villagers Brought In from As Far As Sixty Miles Away To Witness German 
 Justice.  Even The Customary Parade Of The Band Was Canceled for That 
 Occasion, And That Was Our Only Real Ground For Uneasiness, For It 
 Prevented our Having a Last Talk With Brown Of Lumbwa And Assuring 
 Ourselves That Courage Would Not Fail Him In the Pinch. 
   
   
 We Worried in plenty Without Cause, As It Seems That Humans Must Do On 
 The Eve Of Putting Plans, However Well Laid, To The Test.  We Had A 
 Thousand Scares--A Thousand Doubts--And Overlooked at Least A Thousand 
 Evidences That Fortune Favored us.  Toward The End Our Hearts Turned to 
 Water At The Thought That Kazimoto Would Probably Fail To Do His Part, 
 Although Why We Should Have Doubted him After His Faithful Record, And 
 Knowing His Hatred of German Rule, We Would Have Found It Hard To Say. 
   
   
 Several Times That Morning We Showed ourselves About The Town, With The 
 Purpose Of Allaying any Possible Suspicion And Saving The Authorities 
 The Trouble Of Asking What We Were Up To.  With The Same End In view We 
 Attended the Execution In the Afternoon, And Sincerely Wished before It 
 Was Over That We Had Stayed away. 
   
   
 On This Occasion Even The Chain-Gangs Were Included among The 
 Spectators, In the Front Row, On The Ground That, Being Proved 
 Criminals, They Needed the Lesson More Than The Hempen-Noose-Food Not 
 Yet Caught And Tried and Brought To Book. 
   
   
 The Same Sort Of Sermon, Only This Time More Fiery And Full Of Ranting 
 Humbug About German Righteousness, Was Preached by The Commandant.  The 
 Miserable Victims Had Received a Simple Death Sentence, But He 
 Explained that In virtue Of His Superior Office Be Had Seen Fit To Add 
 To It.  "Death" He Explained, "Would Certainly Rid The German 
 Protectorate Of Such Conscienceless Scalawaps As These, But Might Not 
 Be Enough To Discourage The Bad Element That Disliked german Rule. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 289 
 Natives Must Be Taught That The Very Name Of All That Is German Must Be 
 Reverenced, And That German Punishment Is As Terrible And Sure As The 
 German Arm Is Long!  And Be Sure Of This!" He Continued.  "The Ear Of 
 The German Government Is As Far-Reaching as Its Arm!  In your 
 Villages--In Your Homes--In Your Families--There Is Always An Agent Of 
 The Government Listening!  Your Own Brother--Your Wife--Your Child May 
 Be That Agent Of The Government!  Now, Watch Carefully And See What 
 Happens To Men With Bad Hearts--Aye, And To Women With Bad Hearts, Who 
 Conspire Against German Rule!" 
   
   
 What Followed was More Impressive Because Of The Determination We Had 
 Heard Of To Bring all Africa Under The German Yoke.  In vain Should The 
 Wretched natives In after Years Escape By The Hundreds Northward In the 
 Hope Of Living Under British Government.  The Fools--The "Easy 
 People"--The "Folk Who Gave Without A Price"--The "Truth Tellers"--The 
 "Men Who Wish To Forget"--The Unwise, Cocksure, Cleaner-Living, 
 Unbelievably Credulous, Foolishly Honest British Officials Would Be All 
 Gone.  The Pikelhaube And The Lash, Blackmail And Coercion Would Take 
 The Place Of Generosity.  Africa Would Better Be Back Under The Arabs 
 Again, For The Arabs Had No System To Speak Of And Were Inefficient. 
 Some Arabs Have A Heart--Some A Very Soft Heart. 
   
   
 The Crowd Grew Bright-Eyed, Little Children Straining Forward Between 
 Their Elders In the Bull-Fight Frenzy--That Same Intoxication Of The 
 Senses That Held The Roman Freemen Spellbound At The Sight Of Suffering. 
   
   
 One At A Time, That The Last Might See The Torture Of The First, The 
 Victims Were Noosed by The Heel (One Heel)--Thrown With A Jerk--Hauled 
 Heel-First To The Overhanging Branch--And Flogged into Unconsciousness 
 With Slow Blows, The Lieutenant Standing By To Reprove The Askaris If 
 They Struck Too Fast, For That Would Have Been Merciful.  Not Until The 
 Victims Ceased to Struggle Were They Lowered and Thrown On The Ground, 
 To Lie Bleeding, Awaiting Their Turn To Be Hanged. 
   
   
 The Last Two--Supposed to Have Been The Culprits Who Actually Held The 
 Spear That Pierced the Marauding askari'S Heart--Were Hauled up 
 Heel-To-Heel Together, And Hanged presently In the Same Noose, The 
 Commandant Laughing at Their Struggles And Professor Schillingschen 
 Studying Their Agony With Strictly Scientific Interest. 
   
   
 When The Last Had Ceased struggling Schillingschen Permitted himself 
 One More Pleasure.  He Strolled over To Us And Blocked fred'S Way, 
 Standing With Hands Behind Him And Out-Thrust Chin. 
   
   
 "You Flatter Yourself, Don'T You!" He Sneered.  He Was Just Drunk 
 Enough To Be Boastful, While Thoroughly Sure Of What He Was Saying. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 290 
 "You Expect To Tell A Fine Tale!  I Know The Psychology Of The English! 
  I Know It Like A Book!  Let Me Tell You Two Things:  First, Your 
 English Would Not Believe You.  They Are Such Supremely Cocksure Fools 
 That They Can Not Be Made To Believe That Another So-Called civilized 
 Nation Would Act As They, In their Egoism, Would Be Ashamed to Act! 
 Civilization!  That Is A Fine Word, Full Of False Meanings! 
 Civilization Is Prudery--Sham--False Pride--Veneer!  Only The Germans 
 Are Truly Civilized, Because They Alone Are Not Afraid To Face Naked 
 Animalism Without Its Mask!  The British Dare Not! They Hide From 
 It--Shut Their Eyes!  The Fools!  If You Could Tell Them Their Story 
 They Would Never Listen! 
   
   
 "Second:  You Will Never Tell The Story!  Being English, You Were Such 
 Dull-Witted fools That You Did Not Even Hide The Cartridge Cases, Or 
 The Bones Of The Masai You Shot!  Bah-Ha-Ha-Ha-Hah!  You Can Escape 
 Hanging Yet By Telling Your Secret.  Jail You Can Not Escape!  Try It 
 If You Don'T Believe Me!  Try To Escape--Go On!" 
   
   
 He Turned on His Heel And Left Us, Striding Heavily With The Strength 
 Of An Ox And About The Alertness Of A Traction Engine, Turning His Head 
 Every Once In a While To Enjoy The Spectacle Of Our Discomfort. 
   
   
 We Judged it Best To Appear Concerned, As If That Was Indeed our First 
 Realization Of The Extent Of The Case Against Us And The Nature Of The 
 Evidence.  But We Did Not Find It Difficult.  We Were All Three 
 Startled by The Fear That In some Way He Had Got Wind Of Our Plans, And 
 That He Meant To Play With Us Cat-And-Mouse Fashion. 
   
   
 That Night It Stormed--Not Rain, But Wind From East To West, Blowing 
 Such Clouds Of Dust That One Could Scarcely See Across The Narrow 
 Streets.  Every Element Favored us.  Even The Askari At The 
 Cross-Roads, Supposed to Be Watching The Greeks, Turned his Back To The 
 Wind, And What With Rubbing Sand In and Out Of Smarting Eyes And 
 Fingering It Out Of His Ears, Heard And Saw Nothing.  It Was Scarcely 
 Sunset When We Saw Both Greeks And The Goanese Sneak Out Of The Camping 
 Place In indian File With Their Pockets Full Of Cotton Waste.  They Had 
 Soaked the Stuff In kerosene Right Under Our Eye That Afternoon. 
   
   
 There Ought To Have Been A Sliver Of Moon, But The Wind And Dust Hid 
 It.  Fifteen Minutes After Sundown The Only Light Was From The Lamps In 
 Windows And The Cooking Fires Glowing In the Open Here And There. 
 Thirty Minutes Later There Began To Be A Red glow In three Directions. 
 Less Than One Second After We Saw The First Indications Of The 
 Holocaust A Regular Volley Of Shots Broke Out From The Boma As The 
 Sentries On Duty Gave The General Alarm.  Less Than Five Minutes After 
 That The Whole Of The Southern, Grass-Roofed section Of The Town Was 
 Going Up In flames, And Every Living Man, Black, White, Gray, Mulatto, 
 Brown And Mixed, Was Running Full Pelt To The Scene Of Action. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 291 
 We Waited ten Minutes Longer, Rather Expecting The Greeks To Double 
 Back And Begin Denouncing Us At Once.  In that Case We Intended to 
 Stretch Them Out With The First Weapons Handy.  I Sat Feeling The 
 Weight Of An Ax, And Wondering Just How Hard I Could Hit A Greek'S Head 
 With The Back Of It Without Killing Him.  Fred had A Long Tent-Peg. 
 Will Chose A Wooden Mallet That Our Porters Carried to Help In pitching 
 Tents. 
   
   
 But The Greeks Did Not Come, And There Streamed such A Perfect Screen 
 Of Crimson Dust, Sparkling In the Reflected blaze And More Beautiful 
 Than All The Fireworks Ever Loosed off At A Coronation, That It Was 
 Folly To Linger.  We Each Seized the Load Left For That Last Trip 
 (Fred'S Included the Hammer, Pincers, And Cold Chisel For Striking Off 
 The Porters' Chain) And Started off Quietly Round The Hill, Not 
 Beginning To Hurry Until The Hill Lay Between Us And The Burning Town. 
   
   
 There Was Not Much Need for Caution.  The Roar Of Flames, The Shouting, 
 The Excitement Would Have Protected us, Whatever Noise We Made, However 
 Openly We Ran.  Over And Above The Tumult We Could Hear Schubert'S 
 Bull-Throated bellowing, And Then The Echo To Him As The Sergeants Took 
 Up The Shout All Together, Ordering "Off With The Grass Roofs!  Off 
 With The Roofs!" 
   
   
 The White Officials Were More Than Interested, And Had No Time For 
 Anything But Thought For The Blaze.  As We Crossed the Shoulder Of The 
 Far Side Of The Hill We Could See Them Standing On The Drill-Ground All 
 Together, Clearly Defined against The Crimson Flare.  Schillingschen 
 Was With Them. 
   
   
 There Was No Sign Of What Had Happened at The Boma.  The Gang Would 
 Have To Emerge From A Little-Used gate At The Northern End, Provided 
 They Could Break The Lock Or Secure The Key To It;  Otherwise Their 
 Only Chance Was To Climb The Wall By The Cook-House Roof And Jump 
 Twenty Feet On The Far Side.  I Was For Running To The Little Gate And 
 Bursting It In from The Outside, But Fred damned me For A Mutineer 
 Between His Panting For Breath, And Will, Who Was Longer-Winded, Agreed 
 With Him. 
   
   
 "Have To Leave Their End Of The Plan To Them!  Let'S Do Our Part Right!" 
   
   
 As It Turned out, We Were Last At The Rendezvous.  We Heard The Chain 
 Clanking In the Dark Just Ahead Of Us, And Try How We Might, Could Not 
 Catch Up.  Then, Near The Boat Bow, Kazimoto Suddenly Recognized fred 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 292 
 And Nearly Throttled him In a Fierce Embrace, Releasing all His Pent-Up 
 Rage, Agony, Resentment, Misery, Fear In one Paroxysm Of Affection For 
 The Man Who Cared enough To Run Risks For The Sake Of Rescuing Him. 
 Fred had To Pry Him Off By Main Force. 
   
   
 "Into The Boat With You!" Will Ordered them.  "Chain-Gang First!  Get 
 Down Below, And Lie Down!  The First Head That Shows Shall Be Hit With 
 A Club!  Quickly Now!" 
   
   
 Clanking Their Infernal Chain Like All The Ghosts From All The Haunted 
 Granges Of The Old World, They Climbed overside And Disappeared.  There 
 Were More Figures Left On Shore Then Than We Expected.  Brown We Could 
 Make Out Dimly In the Dark:  He Was Chattering Nervously, And Admitted 
 That But For Kazimoto He Would Not Be There.  The Faithful Fellow Had 
 Broken Down The Corrugated iron Partition And Had Dragged him Out By 
 Main Force.  He Was Rather Resentful Than Grateful. 
   
   
 "Hauled here By A Nigger--Think Of It!" 
   
   
 We Ordered brown On Board And Below, Pretty Peremptorily.  Lady Saffren 
 Waldon Stepped out Of The Darkness Next, Holding a Rifle And Two 
 Bandoliers So Full Of Cartridges That She Could Hardly Raise Her Arms. 
 We Took The Load From Her, And Helped her Overside.  Fred took The 
 Rifle And Succumbed to The Hunter'S Habit Of Opening The Breach First 
 Thing.  It Was A German Sporting Mauser, With A Hair Trigger Attachment 
 And Magazine, As Handy And Useful A Weapon As The Heart Of Man Could 
 Wish.  He Had Scarcely Snapped the Breach To Again When A Voice We All 
 Recognized made The Hair Rise On My Neck.  Fred jumped and Raised the 
 Rifle.  Will Swore Softly--Endlessly. 
   
   
 "Gassharrrrammminy!  You Men Took Us For Damned fools, Didn'T You?  You 
 Thought To Get Away And Leave Us!  By Hell, No!  We Go Or You Stay! 
 Birds Of A Feather Fly Together!  One Of You Is American--I Am 
 American!  Two Of You Are English--I Am English, And Can Prove It!  My 
 Friends Come With Me!" 
   
   
 Fred leveled the Rifle At Him. 
   
   
 "About Face!  Off Back To Town With You!" He Barked. 
   
   
 "Not On Your Tin-Type!" Coutlass Yelled.  "I'M No Man'S Popinjay! 
 Shoot If You Dare, And I'Ll Spoil The Whole Game!  Help!  He-E-E-Lp! 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 293 
 He-E-E-E-Lp!" 
   
   
 The Other Greek And The Goanese Joined in the Shout, The Dark Man 
 Setting Up Such An Ululating Screech That The Very Storm Dwindled into 
 Second Place In comparison.  It Was True, The Unearthly Yelling Was 
 Carried out Over The Water, And Very Likely Not A Sound Of It Reached 
 Twenty Yards Inland;  But It Rattled our Nerves, Nevertheless.  The 
 Skin Grew Prickly All Up And Down My Backbone, And The Men On The 
 Chain-Gang Inside The Hull Began Shouting To Know What The Matter Was. 
   
   
 Will Remembered then That He Was Captain For The Day, And Made Virtue 
 Of Necessity. 
   
   
 "In With You!" He Ordered. "Quick!" 
   
   
 With A Grin That Was Half-Triumph, Half-Cunning, And Wholly Glad, 
 Coutlass Helped his Companions Over The Bow, And Had The Civility To 
 Stand There With Hand Outstretched to Help Us In after Him.  We Sent 
 Him Below With His Friends, But Be Came Up Again And Insisted on 
 Leaning His Weight On The Poles With Which We Began Shoving Off Into 
 Deeper Water.  It Was Hard Work, For With Her Human Cargo And Several 
 Hundred gallons Of Water That Had Leaked through Her Gaping Seams, The 
 Dhow Was Down Several Inches.  Her Hull Had Just Begun To Feel The Wind 
 And To Rise And Fall Freely, When A White Figure Ran Screaming Down 
 Toward The Water'S Edge And Stood There Waving To Us Frantically. 
   
   
 "Leave Her!" Said Lady Waldon Excitedly, Clutching My Arm.  I Was Up On 
 The Bow, Just About To Lay The Pole Along The Deck And Haul On The 
 Halyards.  She Spoke Very Slowly Right In my Ear.  "That, Is My Maid 
 Rebecca.  The Faithless Slut--" 
   
   
 Coutlass Began To Shout, Trying To Pole The Dhow Back To Land 
 Single-Handed. 
   
   
 "We Can'T Leave That Woman Behind There!" Fred shouted, Hardly Making 
 Himself Heard Against The Wind. 
   
   
 "Can'T We!" Shouted lady Waldon.  "Give Me That Rifle, And I'Ll Solve 
 The Problem For You!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 294 
 But Coutlass Solved it In another Way By Jumping Overboard, Over His 
 Head In deep Water, Taking Our Hempen Warp With Him (I Had Made One End 
 Of It Fast To The Bitts, Meaning To Be Able To Find It In the Dark). 
   
   
 There Was Quite A Sea Running, Even As Close Inshore As That, And For A 
 Moment I Doubted whether The Greek Would Make It.  By That Time It Was 
 All We Could Do To See The Woman'S White Figure, Still Gesticulating, 
 And Screaming Like A Mad Thing.  Presently, However, The Warp 
 Tightened, And Then By The Strain On It I Knew That Coutlass Was Trying 
 To Haul Us Back Inshore.  Failing To Do That, For The Strength Of The 
 Wind Was Increasing, He Seized the Syrian Woman By The Waist And 
 Plunged into The Water With Her.  I Saw Them Disappear And Hauled on 
 The Warp Hand-Over-Hand With All My Might, Lady Waldon Leaning Over To 
 Strike At My Hands Until I Shouted to Fred to Come And Hold Her.  Then 
 She Begged fred again For The Rifle, Promising To Kill The Two Of Them 
 And Reduce Our Problem To That Extent If We Would Only Let Her. 
   
   
 Will And I Hauled the Dripping Pair On Board, And Coutlass Carried the 
 Maid To The Stern. She Had Fainted, Either From Fright Or From Being 
 Half-Drowned, There Was No Guessing Which.  Then In pitch Blackness 
 With Will'S Help I Got The Ship Beam To The Wind And Began To Make Sail. 
   
   
 Now Danger Was Only Just Beginning!  I Was The Only One Of Them All Who 
 Knew Anything Whatever About Sails And Sailing.  I Was Too Weak To Get 
 The Sail Up Single-Handed, Had No Compass, Knew Nothing Whatever Of The 
 Rocks And Shoals, Except By Rumor That There Were Plenty Of Both. 
 There Appeared to Be No Way Of Reefing The Lateen Sail, Which Was Made 
 Of No Better Material Than Calico, And I Was Entirely Unfamiliar With 
 The Rigging. 
   
   
 Behind Us, As We Payed before The Gaining Wind, Was Brilliant Blaze 
 That Showed where Muanza Was.  Against The Blaze Stood Out The Lakeward 
 Boma Wall.  I Stood Due East Away From It, And Discovered presently 
 That By Easing On The Halyard So As To Lower The Long Spar I Could 
 Obtain Something The Effect Of Reefing. 
   
   
 I Set Fred and Will To Making a Sea-Anchor Of Buckets And Spars In case 
 The Sail Or Rotten Rigging Should Carry Away, Leaving Us At The Mercy 
 Of The Short Steep Waves That Fresh-Water Lakes And The North Sea Only 
 Know.  The Big Curved spar, Now That It Was Hanging Low, Bucked and 
 Swung And The Dhow Steered like An Omnibus On Slippery Pavement. 
 Luckily, I Had Living Ballast And Could Trim The Ship How I Chose. 
 They All Began To Grow Seasick, But I Gave Them Something To Think 
 About By Making Them Shift Backward And Forward And From Side To Side 
 Until I Found Which Way The Dhow Rode Easiest. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 295 
 When Fred had Finished the Sea-Anchor He Got Out The Tools And Began 
 Striking Off The Iron Rings On The Porters' Necks Through Which The 
 Chain Passed.  The Job Took Him Two Hours, But At The End Of It We 
 Owned a Good Serviceable Chain, And A Crew That Could Be Drilled to 
 Take The Brute Hard Labor Off Our Shoulders. 
   
   
 Coutlass Meanwhile Was Busy On The Seat In the Stern Beside Me Making 
 Hellenic Inflammatory Love To Lady Waldon'S Maid, Whom He Had Wrapped 
 In His Own Blanket And Held Shivering In his Arms.  Lady Waldon Herself 
 Sat On The Other Side Of Me, Affecting Not To Be Aware Of The Existence 
 Of Either Of Them.  The Other Greek And The Goanese Had Been Driven 
 Below, Where They Started to Smoke Until I Saw The Glow Of Their Pipes 
 And Shouted to Will To Stop That Foolishness.  He Snatched both Pipes 
 And Threw Them Overboard.  The Thought Of Being Seen From Shore Was 
 Almost Incitement Enough For Murder.  They Refused to Turn A Hand To 
 Anything That Night, But Sat Sulking Below The Sloping Roof Of Reeds 
 And Tarpaulin That Did Duty For A Deck, Wedged alongside Of Seasick 
 Wanyamwezi. 
   
   
 It Was Kazimoto Who Chose The Least Disheartened of The Gang, Beat Them 
 And Stung Them Into Liveliness, And Set Them To Bailing.  There Was A 
 Trough Running Thwartwise Of The Ship Into Which The Water Had To Be 
 Lifted from The Midship Well.  It Took The Gang Of Eight Men, Working 
 In Relays, Until Nearly Dawn To Get The Water Out Of Her;  And To Keep 
 Her Bottom Reasonably Dry After That Two Men Working Constantly. 
   
   
 I Knew Vaguely That The Great Island Of Ukerewe Lay To The 
 Northwestward Of Us.  Between That And The Mainland, Running Roughly 
 North, Was A Passage That Narrowed in more Than One Place To Less Than 
 A Hundred yards.  That Would Have Been The Obvious Course To Take Had 
 We Not Been Afraid Of Pursuit, Had We Dared get Away By Daylight, And 
 Provided i Had Known The Way.  As It Was I Intended to Add Another 
 Hundred miles To The Distance Between Us And The Northern Shore Of The 
 Lake, By Sailing Well Clear Of And Around Ukerewe, Trusting To The Less 
 Frequented water And The Wilder Islands To Make Escape Easier. 
   
   
 I Judged it Likely That The Moment We Were Missed, The Launch Would Be 
 Sent Off In search Of Us, And That The Germans Would Search The Narrow 
 Passage First.  They Would Expect Us To Take The Narrow Passage, As The 
 Shortest, And Depend On Their Ability To Steam A Dozen Miles An Hour To 
 Overhaul Us, Even Should We Get A Long Start On The Outside Course. 
   
   
 With Gaining Wind, A Following Sea, A Little Ship Crowded to 
 Suffocation, And A Sail That Might Blow To Shreds At Any Minute, It Was 
 Not Long Before I Began To Pray For The Lee Of Ukerewe, And To Stand In 
 Closer Toward Where I Judged the End Of The Island Ought To Be Than 
 Perhaps I Should Have Done.  It Was Lucky, Though, That I Did. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 10 (In Hoc Signo Vade) Pg 296 
 In Making Calculations I Had Overlooked the Obvious Fact That, Steaming 
 Three Miles To Our One, The Launch Could Very Well Afford To Take The 
 Outside Course To Start With.  Then They Could Take A Good Look For Us 
 In The Open Water Next Morning, And, Failing To Find Us, Steam All 
 Around Ukerewe, Come Back Down The Inside Passage, And Catch Us Between 
 Two Banks. 
   
   
 It Was Lady Saffren Waldon On My Left Hand, Looking anywhere But At Her 
 Maid And Sweeping The Dark Waste Of Water With Eyes As Restless As The 
 Waves Themselves, Who Gave The First Alarm. 
   
   
 "What Is That Light?" She Asked me. 
   
   
 Following The Direction Of Her Hand I Saw A Red glow On The Water To 
 Our Left, Not More Than A Mile Behind. 
   
   
 "Reflection From The Burning Town," I Answered, But I Had No Sooner 
 Said It Than I Knew The Answer Was Foolish.  It Was The Glow That Rides 
 Above Hot Steamer Funnels In the Night. 
   
   
 "Fred!" I Shouted, For Fear Took Hold Of The Very Roots Of My Heart, 
 "For The Love Of God Make Every One Keep Silence! Show No Lights! 
 Don'T Speak Above A Whisper!  Keep All Heads Below The Gunwale!  That 
 Cursed german Launch Is After Us!" 
   
   
 We Were In double Danger.  I Could Hear Surf Pounding On Rocks To 
 Starboard.  I Did Not Dare To Come Up Into The Wind Because Nobody But 
 I Knew How The Spar Would Have To Be Passed around The Mast, And In any 
 Case The Noise And The Fluttering Sail Might Attract Attention. 
   
   
 "Look Out For Breakers Ahead!" I Ordered.  "I'M Going To Hold This 
 Course And Hope They Pass Us In the Dark!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 297 
 Be Glad If Ye Know The Accursed thing 
         And Know It Accurst, For The Gift Is Yours 
 Of Sight Where The Prophets Of Blindness Sing 
         By The Brink Of Death. And The Gift Endures; 
 Ye Shall See The Last Of The Sharpened lies 
         That Rivet Privilege'S Gripe. 
 Be Still, Then, Ye With The Opened eyes, 
         Come Away From The Thing Till The Time Is Ripe. 
   
   
 Be Glad That Ye Loathe The Accursed thing, 
         It Is Given To You To Foreknow The End. 
 But They Who The Unwise Challenge Fling 
         Shall Startle Foe At The Risk Of Friend 
 As Yet Unready To Endure - 
         And Can Ye Fend Goliath'S Swipe? 
 The Slowly Grinding Mills Are Sure, 
         Let Terror Alone Till The Time Is Ripe. 
   
   
 Be Glad When The Shout For The Spoils, And The Glee, 
         The Hoofs And The Wheels Of The Prophets Of Wrong, 
 Out Thunder The Warning Of What Shall Be; 
         Be Still, For The Tumult Is Not For Long. 
 The Finger That Wrote, From A Polished wall 
         As Surely The Closed account Shall Wipe; 
 The Accursed thing Ye Feared shall Fall 
         To A Boy With A Sling When The Time Is Ripe. 
   
   
 If The Dhow Had Been Seaworthy;  If The Crew Had Understood The Rigging 
 And The Long Unwieldy Spar;  If We Had Had Any Chart, Or Had Known 
 Anything Whatever Of The Coast;  If Nobody Had Been Afraid; And, Above 
 All, If That Incessant Din Of Surf Pounding On Rocks Not Far Away To 
 Starboard Had Not Threatened disaster Even Greater Than The Germans In 
 The Steam Launch, Our Problem Might Have Been Simple Enough. 
   
   
 But Every One Was Afraid, Including Me Who Held The Tiller (And The 
 Lives Of All The Party) In my Right Hand.  Lady Saffren Waldon 
 Disguised fear Under An Acid Temper And Some Villainously Bad Advice. 
   
   
 "Steer Toward Them!" She Kept Shouting In my Ear.  "Steer Toward Them! 
 Ram Them!  Sink Them!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 298 
 Coutlass, On My Other Hand, Made Feverish Haste With His Love-Affair, 
 Fearful Lest Discovery By The Germans Should Postpone Forever The 
 Assuaging Of His Hungry Heart'S Desire. 
   
   
 "Steer Toward Shore!" He Urged me.  "Who Cares If We Run On Rocks? 
 Can'T We Swim?  Gassharamminy!  Take To The Land And Give Them A Run 
 For It!" 
   
   
 He Seized the Tiller To Reinforce The Argument, And Wrenched at It 
 Until I Hit Him, And Fred threatened him With The Only Rifle. 
   
   
 "Get Up Forward!" Fred ordered;  But Georges Coutlass Would Not Go. 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!" He Snarled. "You Want My Girl!  I Will Fight The Whole 
 Damned crew Before I Let Her Out Of The Hollow Of My Arm. 
   
   
 "All Right, Touch That Tiller Again And I'Ll Kill You!" Fred warned him. 
   
   
 "Touch My Girl, And You Kill Me Or Get Out And Swim!" Coutlass Retorted. 
   
   
 Will Was Up Forward With Brown, Looking Out For Breakers Through The 
 Spray That Swept Over Us Continually.  I Watched the Glow That Rode 
 Above The Launch'S Funnel, Marveling, When I Found Time For It, At The 
 Mystery Of Why The Cotton Sail Should Hold.  The Firm, Somewhere In 
 Connecticut, Who Made That Export Calico, Should Be Praised by Name, 
 Only That The Dye They Used was Much Less Perfect Than The Stuff And 
 Workmanship;  Their Trademark Was All Washed out. 
   
   
 Suddenly Will Dodged under The Bellying Sail, Throwing Up Both Hands, 
 And He And Brown Screamed at Me:  "To Your Left!  Go To Your Left! 
 Rocks To The Right!" 
   
   
 The Germans Had Passed us, But Not By Much, For The Short Steep Seas 
 Were Tossing Their Propeller Out Of The Water Half The Time.  Because 
 Of The Course I Had Taken The Wind Was Setting Slightly From Us Toward 
 Them, And I Could Have Sworn They Heard Will'S Voice.  Yet There Was 
 Nothing For It But To Put The Helm Over, And As I Laid Her Nearly 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 299 
 Broadside To The Wind A Great Wave Swept Us.  At That The Greek, The 
 Goanese, And All The Natives In the Hold Set Up A Yell Together That 
 Ought To Have Announced our Presence To The Seven Sleepers. 
   
   
 I Held The Helm Up, And Let Her Reel And Wallow In the Trough.  Now I 
 Could See The Fangs Of Rock Myself And The White Waves Raging around 
 Them.  See?  I Could Have Spat On Them!  There Was A Current There That 
 Set Strongly Toward The Rocks, For A Backwash Of Some Sort Helped the 
 Helm And We Won Clear, About A Third Full Of Water, With The Crew Too 
 Panicky To Bail. 
   
   
 "Hold Her So!" Yelled fred in my Ear.  "Don'T Ease Up Yet!  If We Get 
 Too Close And They See Us, I'Ve The Rifle!  They Haven'T Seen Us Yet!" 
   
   
 "Rocks Ahead Again!" Yelled will.  "To The Left Again!" 
   
   
 We Were In the Gaping Jaws Of A Sort Of Pocket, And It Was Too Late To 
 Steer Clear. 
   
   
 "Throw The Anchor Over!" I Roared, "And Let Go Everything. 
   
   
 Will Attended to The Anchor.  Fred was Too Anxious For The Safety Of 
 The Only Rifle To Trust It Out Of Hand, And He Hesitated.  Georges 
 Coutlass Saved the Day By Letting Go The Shivering Syrian Maid And 
 Slashing at The Halyard With His Knife.  Down Came The Great Spar With 
 A Crash, And As The Dhow Swung Round In answer To Anchor And Helm, 
 Fred, Will And Brown, Between Them, Contrived to Save The Sail, Brown 
 Complaining That We Were The First Sailors He Ever Heard Of Who Did Not 
 Have Rum Served them For Working Overtime In dirty Weather. 
   
   
 So We Lay, Then, Wallowing In the Jaws Of A Crescent Granite Reef, And 
 Watched the Red glow Above The German Launch Move Farther And Farther 
 Away From Us.  We Waited there, Wet And Hungry, Until Dawn Dimmed the 
 Flame From The Burning Roofs Of Muanza, Lady Isobel Saffren Waldon 
 Loudly Accusing Us All At Intervals Of Being Rank Incompetents Unfit To 
 Be Trusted with The Lives Of Fish, And Coutlass Afraid Of Nothing But 
 Interruption.  The Things He Said To The Maid, In english--The Only 
 Language That They Had Apparently In common--Would Have Scandalized a 
 Goanese Harbor "Guide" Or A Rock Scorpion From The Lower Streets Of 
 Gib.  He Did Not Mention Marriage To Her, Beyond Admitting That He Had 
 Half A Dozen Wives Already, And Had Been Too Bored by Convention Ever 
 To Submit To The Yoke Again.  The Maid Seemed enraptured--Delirious In 
 The Bight Of His Lawless Arm, Forgetful Of Her Wetting, And Only Afraid 
 When He Left Her For A Minute. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 300 
 We Dared not Try To Cook Anything, Even Supposing That Had Been 
 Possible.  Forward Was A Box Full Of Sand To Serve As Hearthstone, But 
 The Little Scraps Of Fuel We Had Brought With Us Were Drenched and 
 Unburnable, Even If The Risk Of Being Seen Were Not Too Great.  Lady 
 Saffren Waldon Told Us We Were "Toe-Rag Contrivers."  In fact, Now That 
 She Was Out Of Reach Of The Men She Feared and Hated most, She Reverted 
 To Type And Tried to Domineer Over Us All By The Simple Old 
 Recipe--Audacious Arrogance.  Luckily, She Slept For An Hour Or Two. 
   
   
 A Little Before Dawn, When It Began To Be Light Enough To Let Us See 
 The Outline Of The Shore, We Sent Kazimoto Aloft To Reeve Our Hemp Rope 
 Through The Hole That Did Duty For Block, And By The Time The Sun Had 
 Pushed the Uppermost Arc Of His Rim Above The Sky-Line We Once More Had 
 The Sail Set. 
   
   
 The Wind Was Still Blowing a Gale;  The Seamanlike Precaution Would 
 Have Been To Lie Where We Were At Anchor Until Fairer Weather;  But 
 Daring Is Forced on The Fearfullest, And There Was Nothing For It But 
 To Study Out The Method By Which The Unwieldy Spar Should Be Made To 
 Pass The Mast When Tacking, Drill Fred, Will, Brown And Kazimoto, And 
 Then Haul Up The Anchor And Sail Away Before People On Shore Could See 
 Us. 
   
   
 We Had To Tack Toward Muanza For A Quarter Of A Mile With Fear In our 
 Arms To Make Them Clumsy Before I Dared believe We Were Clear Of The 
 Reefs;  But When I Put The Helm Down At Last There Was Neither Launch 
 In Sight Nor Any Other Boat That Might Contain An Enemy.  The Southern 
 Spur Of Ukerewe Stuck Out Like A Wedge Into Boiling Water Not Many 
 Miles Ahead, And Once Around That We Should Be Sheltered.  The Only Fly 
 In The Ointment Then Was The Probability That The Launch Would Be 
 Waiting For Us Just Around The Spur, Or Else Under The Lee Of Another 
 Smaller Island In the Offing To Our Left, But What We Could Not See In 
 That Hour Could Not Upset Us Much. 
   
   
 Every One Clamored for Food.  The Porters, Already Forgetful Of The 
 Chain That Had Galled them, And The Whips That Had Flayed them Day And 
 Night, Demanded to Be Set Ashore To Build A Fire And Eat.  Lady Saffren 
 Waldon Awoke To Fresh Bad Temper, And Coutlass, Too, Grew Villainously 
 Impatient.  His Greek Friend, From Under The Shelter Of The Leaky 
 Reed-And-Tarpaulin Deck, Offered him Greek Advice, And Was Cursed for 
 His Trouble.  One Curse Led to Another, And Then They Both Had To Be 
 Beaten Into Subjection With The First Thing Handy, Because When They 
 Fought Lady Saffren Waldon Egged them On And The Maid Tried to Savage 
 The Other Greek With A Brooch-Pin, Which Brought Out The Goanese To The 
 Rescue.  That Crowded dhow Was No Place For Pitched battles, Plunging 
 And Rolling Between The Frying-Pan Of Muanza And The Fire Of Unknown 
 Things Ahead. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 301 
 "One More Outbreak From You, And I Shoot!" Fred announced, Patting The 
 Rifle.  But, He Did Not Mean It, And Coutlass Knew He Did Not.  The 
 English Temperament Does Not Turn Readily On Even The Most Rascally 
 Fellow Beings In distress.  Besides, It Was An Indubitable Fact That We 
 All Much Preferred coutlass, With His Daring Record, And Now A Most 
 Outrageous Love-Affair On Hand, To The Other Greek Or The Goanese, Who 
 Were Now Disposed to Bid For Our Friendship By Abusing Him.  Georges 
 Coutlass Was No Drawing-Room Darling, Or Worthy Citizen Of Any Land, 
 But He Had Courage Of A Kind, And A Sort Of Splendid Fire That Made Men 
 Forget His Turpitude. 
   
   
 We Were A Seasick, Cold And Sorry Company That Rounded the Point At 
 Last And Came To Anchor In a Calm Shallow Bay Where Fuel Grew Close 
 Down To The Water'S Edge.  Having No Small Boat, We Had To Wade Ashore 
 And Carry The Women, Coutlass Attending To His Own Inamorata.  Lady 
 Saffren Waldon'S Picric Acid Rage Exploded by Being Dropped between Two 
 Porters Waist-Deep Into The Water.  It Was Her Fault.  She Insisted one 
 Was Not Enough, Yet Refused to Explain How Two Should Do The Work Of 
 One.  Sitting On Their Two Shoulders, Holding On By Their Hair, She 
 Frightened the Left-Hand Man By Losing Her Balance And Clutching His 
 Nose And Eyes.  She Insisted on Having Both Men Flogged for Having 
 Dropped her, And Fred'S Refusal Was The Signal For New War, Our Rescue 
 Of Her Being Flung At Once On To The Scrap Heap Of Her Memory. 
   
   
 She Counted with Cold Cynicism On Our Unwillingness To Leave Her Again 
 At The Mercy Of The Germans, And Had No More Consideration Of Our 
 Rights Or Feelings Than The Cuckoo Has For The Owner Of The Nest In 
 Which She Lays Her Eggs. 
   
   
 "Beat Those Fools!" She Ordered.  "Beat Them Blue And Give Them No 
 Breakfast!" 
   
   
 "Do You See That Rock Over There, Lady Waldon?" Fred answered.  "Go And 
 Spread Your Clothes To Dry.  When We'Ve Cooked food We'Ll Send Rebecca 
 To You With Your Share." 
   
   
 "If You Send That Slut To Me I Will Kill Her!" She Answered, Flying 
 Into A New Fury. 
   
   
 "Whom Do You Call Slut?" Demanded coutlass (And He Had No  Compunctions 
 Of Any Kind--Particularly None About Women, And Calling Names.  He Was 
 Simply Feeling Gallant After His Own Fashion, And Alert For A Chance To 
 Show Off.)  Lady Waldon Backed away From Him. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 302 
 "Of Course," She Sneered, "If You Loose Your Bully At Me, I Am No Match 
 At All!" 
   
   
 Fred promptly Kicked coutlass Until He Ran Limping Out Of Range, To Sit 
 And Nurse His Bruises With Polyglot Profanity.  The Syrian Rebecca Went 
 Over To Comfort Him, And Eying The Two Of Them With Either Malice Or 
 Else Calculation (It Was Impossible To Judge Which) Lady Waldon 
 Retreated toward The Rock That Fred had Pointed out. 
   
   
 We Cooked a Miserable Meal, Neither Daring To Make Too Great Inroad 
 Into Our Stores Before Making Sure We Could Replenish Them, Nor Caring 
 To Make More Smoke Than We Could Help.  We Hoped to Escape Being Seen 
 Even By Natives, But Lady Waldon Upset That Part Of Our Plan By Setting 
 Up Such A Scream When She Saw Three Islanders Crossing a Ridge Three 
 Hundred yards Away, That They Could Not Help Hearing Her, And Came To 
 Investigate.  She Was Forced to Dress Faster Than Ever In her Life 
 Before, And Came Running To Demand That We Flog All Three "To Teach 
 Them Manners."  She Had Perfectly Absorbed the German Attitude Toward 
 All Black Men. 
   
   
 >From The Natives We Learned that There Was No Telegraph Wire Along 
 That Coast, And That The Only German Settlements Were Semi-Permanent 
 Camps Where They Were Cutting Wood, For Fuel For Their Own Launch And 
 For The Steamers The British Were Building To Serve The Lake Ports, 
 Muanza Included. 
   
   
 With That Good News For Encouragement We Made The Three Natives A Small 
 Present In the Vain Hope That They Might Be Induced not To Talk About 
 Us, And Put To Sea Again. The Weather Was Fairer And Growing 
 Intolerably Hot.  Even Before The Sun Grew High The Dhow Was A 
 Comfortless Indecent Thing, More Crowded than Anything Noah Can Have 
 Had To Tolerate:  And We Lacked noah'S Faith In omniscient Guidance, In 
 Addition To Sailing In a Hotter Latitude, And Having More Fleas On 
 Board Than The Pair He Is Reported to Have Carried. 
   
   
 As We Crept Up-Coast, Leaning To This Or That Side When The Gusts Of 
 Wind Varied, The Only Enviable Ones Were The Three In the Bow, Posted 
 There To Keep A Look-Out For The Launch Or Any Other Enemy.  They Had 
 Room Enough To Sit Without Touching One Another, And Air To Breathe 
 That Mostly Had Not Been Tasted half A Dozen Times.  Fred, Will And 
 Brown Took Turns Commanding The Foredeck Look-Out, Keeping It Awake And 
 Its Units From Quarreling.  The Rest Of Us Found No Joy In life, And 
 Not Too Much Hope Even When Fred'S Concertina Lifted the Refrain Of 
 Missionary Hymn-Tunes That Even The Porters Knew, And Most Of Us Sang, 
 The Porters Humming Wordless Melancholy Through Their Noses.  (When 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 303 
 That Happened lady Saffren Waldon'S Scorn Was Something The 
 Arch-Priests Of Babylon Would Have Paid To See.) 
   
   
 There Was Never Room On The Tiny After-Deck For More Than Six People 
 Sitting Elbow To Elbow And Back To Back Or Knee To Knee.  Lady Waldon 
 Simply Refused to Yield Her Corner Seat On Any Account At Any Time To 
 Any One.  Coutlass Refused to Leave His New Sweetheart, For The 
 Freely-Voiced reason That Then Brown Might Make Love To Her;  And We 
 Did Not Care To Send Both Of Them Below For Obvious Reasons.  That 
 Reduced open-Air Accommodation To A Minimum, Because The 
 Reed-And-Tarpaulin Deck Was Scarcely Strong Enough To Bear The Weight 
 Of Two Men At A Time, And We Did Not Care To Throw The Whole Deck 
 Overboard For Fear Of Rain. 
   
   
 And By-And-By The Rain Came--Out Of Season, But No Less Violent Because 
 Of That.  It Rained three Days And Nights On End--Three Windless Days 
 And Starless Nights, During Which We Had To Linger Alongshore Close To 
 The Papyrus.  In order To Keep Mosquitoes Out We Had To Light A Smudge 
 In The Sand-Box Below.  The Smudge Added to The Heat, And The Heat 
 Drove Men To The Open Air To Gasp A Few Minutes In the Rain For Breath 
 And Go Down Again To Make Room For The Next In turn. 
   
   
 Sleep On Shore Was Impossible, For Thereabouts Were Crocodile And Snake 
 Swamps, Fuller Of Insect Life Than Dictionaries Are Of Letters.  Poling 
 Was Next To Impossible, Because The Soft Mud Bottom Gave No Purchase. 
 And The Oars We Made Out Of Poles Were Clumsy Affairs;  There Was Not 
 Room For More Than Two Boys To Try To Use Them At A Time, Even If The 
 Deck Would Have Stood The Strain Of More Feet, Which It Certainly Would 
 Not Have Done. 
   
   
 Lady Waldon Slept Seated in her Corner, With Her Head Wrapped in a Veil 
 Over Which The Mosquitoes Prospected in gangs.  Coutlass And His 
 Lady-Love Endured rain And Insects In the Open, Too, But Suffered less, 
 Because Of Mutual Distraction.  The Rest Of Us Took Turns With The 
 Natives Below, Lying Packed between Them, Much As Sardines Nestle In a 
 Can, Wondering Whether The Famous Black Hole Of Calcutta Was Really 
 Such A Record-Breaker As They Say.  Brown Was Of The Opinion That The 
 Black Hole Was A Nosegay Compared to Our Lot --"Besides Which, They 
 Probably Had Rum With 'Em!" He Added. 
   
   
 Some Of The Porters Grew Sick Under The Strain Of Heat, Fear, 
 Excitement And Inactivity.  The Native Suffers As Much From 
 Unaccustomed inconvenience As The White Man, And More From Close 
 Confinement.  The Third Night Out The Man Next Me Began Coughing, 
 Shaking My Frame As Much As His Own As He Racked himself, For We Were 
 Wedged together With Only The Thickness Of His Blanket And Mine Between 
 Us, And I Was Jammed tight Against The Ship'S Side.  Toward Morning He 
 Grew Quiet--Grew Colder, Too.  When Dawn Came We Found That He Had 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 304 
 Coughed up The Most Of His Lungs On My White English Blanket. 
   
   
 I Gave Them The Blanket To Bury Him In, And We Poled the Queen Of Sheba 
 Inshore To Find A Place To Dig A Hole, Leaving The Body Stretched on 
 Some Tree-Roots While We Prospected.  We Should Have Known Enough By 
 That Time To Leave Four Or Five Men On Guard Close By;  As It Was, When 
 The Men Still On Board The Dhow Began Kicking Up A Babel, Fred and I 
 Came Running and Jumping Back Through The Marsh Just In time To See A 
 Crocodile Wriggle Off Into The Water, With The Corpse In his Jaws Feet 
 First.  Fred fired a Shotted salute, But Missed, And That Ended that 
 Funeral. 
   
   
 By Day We Passed villages On Higher Ground, Where We Might Have 
 Procured more Food If We Had Dared run The Risk Of Meeting Germans.  It 
 Was Likely Enough The Villagers Were So Used to Dhows That They Would 
 Not Trouble To Report Having Seen Us In the Distance;  But It Was 
 Perfectly Certain That If We Paid Them A Visit They Would Pass Word 
 Along From Mouth To Mouth With That Astonishing, Undiscoverable Ease 
 That Is At Once The Blessing and Bane Of Governments. 
   
   
 So Fred wasted hot Hours With The Only Rifle, Trying To Hunt Meat On A 
 Shore Where All The Four-Legged game Had Been Ran Down By The Natives, 
 Or Butchered by The German Machine-Guns Long Ago (For To Teach Sudanese 
 Mercenaries The Art Of Rapid Fire In action Their Officers Marched them 
 Out To Practise On Herds Of Antelope.  There Was Game In plenty Away 
 From The Lake, But None Where The German Officer Could Conveniently 
 Practise His Profession.) 
   
   
 We Tried to Shoot Ducks And Geese;  But A Rifle At Long Range Is Not 
 The Best Weapon For That Sport.  We Shot Very Few, And Then Only To 
 Discover The Invincible Repugnance Natives Have To Eating "Dagi" As 
 They Call All Birds.  We Kept Ourselves Alive, But Did Not Solve The 
 Problem Of The Ever-Diminishing Supplies Of Rice For Our Men. 
   
   
 Somebody Thought Of Fishing.  We Found Hooks In a Crevice In the Queen 
 Of Sheba'S Bow, And Made Lines From A Frayed rope.  But Although The 
 Shore Was Lined with Traps In which The Inhabitants No Doubt Took Fish 
 In Proper Season, All That We Caught Was One Miserable Finny Specimen, 
 All Head And Mouth And Tail, That The Natives Said Would Poison Any One 
 Who Ate It.  The Truth Was, Of Course, That They Preferred rice To 
 Anything, And, African Native-Like, Would Eat Nothing Else As Long As 
 Rice Was To Be Had, Having No Earthly Notions Of Economy.  When The 
 Rice Was All Gone On The Fifth Day Out Of Muanza They Raided a Banana 
 Plantation Before We Knew What They Were Up To, And Came Back Gorged, 
 With Bunches Enough To Feed them For Two Or Three More Days. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 305 
 The Fat Was In the Fire Then, Of Course.  We Paid The Owners 
 Handsomely, Giving Them Their Choice Of Money Or Blankets When They 
 Bore Down On Us In long Canoes Demanding Vengeance.  They Voted for 
 Blankets And Money, But Vowed they Would Far Rather Have The Bananas, 
 Because Now Their Own People Would Be On Short Commons To Make Up For 
 The Surfeit Of Ours. 
   
   
 We Left Them Never Doubting That They Would Send Word To The Nearest 
 German Officer. (They Told Us There Was A Wood-Cutting Station Within A 
 "Few Hours," And We Prayed he Might Be Only A Non-Commissioned man In 
 Charge Of It, But Knew That Prayer Was Too Sweetly Reasonable To Be 
 Answered where The German Gott Makes War On Foreigners.)  Kazimoto 
 Assured us He Heard Them Telling One Another They Would Make Complaint 
 Against Us Within The Day. 
   
   
 It Remained, Then, Only To Guess Where That Steam Launch Might Be.  We 
 Were Approaching The Northern End Of Ukerewe, Not A Day'S Sail, If The 
 Light Wind Held, From The Narrow Mouth Of The Channel Between Ukerewe 
 And The Mainland.  That Was The Likeliest Place For The Launch To Lie 
 In Wait;  It Was Where We Would Have Waited had We Been Pursuers And 
 They The Pursued.  So We Decided after A Council Of War To Put The Helm 
 Over And Sail Almost Due Westward, Hoping To Meet With An Island Where 
 We Might Stop For A Few Days, Catch Fish And Dry Them, And Caulk The 
 Leaky Dhow, Without The Risk Of Letting The Germans Know Our 
 Whereabouts.  (It Is A Peculiar Fact That Whatever The Native Secret 
 System Of Transferring Messages May Be, It Does Not Work Across Water.) 
   
   
 Not All The Little Gods Of Africa Were Fighting For The Germans, 
 Although It Began To Seem So.  An Hour After Putting Up The Helm We 
 Sighted a School Of Hippopotami--Fifty At Least, And For Half A Day We 
 Chased them, Fred trying To Shoot One Until Will And I Objected to 
 Further Waste Of Ammunition.  A Dead Hippo Would Have Provided us With 
 Meat Enough For A Month For The Whole Ship'S Company.  We Could Have 
 Towed the Carcass Ashore Somewhere And Dried the Meat In slabs.  But 
 The Glare On The Water Made Shooting Very Nearly Impossible (Fred'S 
 Eyes Were Sore From It);  And If We Should Meet The Germans Those 
 Remaining Cartridges Would Be Our Only Hope.  But The Diversion Took Us 
 Out Of Sight Of Land, And That Stood Us In better Stead Presently Than 
 Tons Of Fresh Meat. 
   
   
 Whether The Germans Heard Us, Or Were Merely Quartering That Part Of 
 The Lake In wait, We Never Knew.  Probably They Heard The Shooting In 
 The Distance And Gave Chase.  At Any Rate, Within Ten Minutes Of Fred'S 
 Last Wasted shot Coutlass Caught Sight Of Smoke And Announced the Fact 
 With His Favorite Oath. 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!  The Launch!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 306 
 At First We Were All In a Stew Because There Was No Land Near, Where We 
 Might Have Beached the Dhow And Scattered.  It Was An Hour Before Our 
 Advantage Of Position Dawned on Us, And All The While The Launch 
 Approached us Leisurely.  She Had Plenty Of Fuel;  The Wood Was Piled 
 High Above Her Gunwale In a Stack Toward The Stern;  But Those On Board 
 Her Seemed to Take More Pleasure In contemplation Of Our 
 Defenselessness Than In speed.  She Steamed twice Around Us Slowly 
 Before Closing In;  And Then We Made Out Schillingschen'S Hairy Shape, 
 Leaning against The Cord-Wood With A Rifle Between His Hands. 
   
   
 "Shoot Him!  Shoot Him, By Jiminy!" Urged coutlass, But Fred was Not So 
 Previous As That.  We Were Not Yet On The Defensive.  We Counted five 
 Rifles, In addition To Schillingschen'S Protruding above The Launch'S 
 Side, And We All Took Cover In the Hope Either That They Might Decide 
 We Were Not The Dhow They Waited for, Or Else That They Might Come Very 
 Close Out Of Curiosity.  For Fred had A Plan Of His Own.  Rifle In 
 Hand, He Crawled under The Hot Tarpaulin And Lay Flat On The Reed deck, 
 Will Crawling after Him To Snatch The Rifle In case Fred should Be Hit. 
   
   
 "Steer Straight Toward 'Em!" Fred called to Me, As Soon As It Was 
 Evident That The Launch Did Not Intend To Pass Us By.  "Keep Headed 
 Toward Them!" 
   
   
 That Was Not Easy In the Light Wind, Until Schillingschen Tired of 
 Staring at Us And Gave An Order To The Engineer.  Then They Laid The 
 Launch Broadside On To Our Bow At About Two Hundred yards' Range, And 
 Without A Word Of Warning Opened fire On Us From All Six Rifles, 
 Schillingschen Devoting His First Attention To Myself At The Helm. 
   
   
 Our Lone Rifle Cracked in reply, But They Could Not See Fred and Did 
 Not Guess Where To Shoot In order To Search Him Out.  They Came No 
 Nearer, But Circled slowly Around Us, Only Schillingschen'S Bullets 
 Appearing To Come Anywhere Near The Target, Until A Yell From Below 
 Showed what Their Real Plan Was And I Understood Why The Sail Was Not 
 Ripped and No Bullets Whistled overhead.        They Were Shooting 
 Through The Planking Of The Dhow, Endeavoring To Massacre The Helpless 
 Crowd Below, And No Doubt To Sink Her And Drown Us As Soon As She Was 
 Full Enough Of Holes. 
   
   
 A Wounded nyamwezi Came Scrambling On Deck, Spouting Blood From His 
 Neck And Crazed with Fear.  He Jumped overboard And Tried to Swim 
 Toward The Launch, But One Of The Germans Hit Him In the Head At The 
 Third Shot And He Disappeared.  Then One Of Schillingschen'S Elephant 
 Bullets Slit My Sleeve, And The Next One Pierced my Helmet. 
   
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 307 
 "Put One Into Schillingschen, Fred!" I Shouted, But Fred did Not 
 Answer.  He Kept Up A Very Steady Succession Of Shots That Were Doing 
 No Good At All That I Could See. 
   
   
 Another German Bullet Found Its Mark Below Deck In the Thigh Of The 
 Goanese.  He Might Have Known Enough To Lie Quiet, Having Some Alleged 
 White Blood In him, But Instead He, Too, Came Struggling To The 
 After-Deck, Bellowing Like A Mad-Man.  Coutlass Knocked him Back Below 
 With A Blow On The Chin, And He There And Then Threw The Whole Crowd 
 Into A Panic By Screaming and Kicking.  They All Began To Try To Swarm 
 Together Through The Narrow Opening, And Those In the Rear Tore At The 
 Reed deck. 
   
   
 Into That Pandemonium Went Coutlass, Armed with Nothing But Hellenic 
 Fury, Thoughtful Of Nothing But His Lady-Love--Surely Reckless Of His 
 Own Skin.  He Beat, Kicked, Bit, Scragged, Banged their Foolish Heads 
 Together, Cursed, Spat, Gouged, And Strangled as Surely No Catamount 
 Ever Did.  Brown Leaped in to Lend A Hand, And Into The Midst Of That 
 Inferno Three More Bullets Penetrated, Each Wounding a Man.  Lady 
 Waldon, Mad With Some Idiotic Strategy Of Her Own Sudden Devising, 
 Seized the Tiller And Tried to Wrench It From My Hand.  The Syrian 
 Rebecca, Imagining New Treachery And Fearful For Her Greek Lover, Tried 
 To Prevent Her With Teeth And Nails.  The Germans Raised a War-Whoop Of 
 Wild Enjoyment.  And Just At The Height Of All That, Fred'S 
 Three-And-Twentieth Shot Went Home. 
   
   
 There Was A Loud Report, Followed by Instant Nothing Except Stampede On 
 The Part Of The Germans To Get Out Of Reach Of Something.  Then The 
 Something Grew Denser;  Invisible Hot Vapor Became A Pall Of Steam That 
 Bid The Launch From View, Three More Shots From Fred'S Rifle Finding 
 The Proper Mark By Sheer Accident, For There Was Another Explosion; 
 The Cloud Increased and The Launch Stopped dead. 
   
   
 "That Gray Sheet Of Metal Wasn'T Her Boiler At All!" Fred shouted back 
 To Me.  "The First Shot Pierced the Boiler When I Found Out Where To 
 Aim!  I Think Three Of Them Are Scalded badly--Hope So!--High Pressure 
 Steam--Superheated--Did You See?  Now Leave 'Em To Find Their Own Way 
 Home!" 
   
   
 "See If You Can'T Get Schillingschen!" Said I. 
   
   
 But Schillingschen Was Invisible In the White Cloud, And Fred refused 
 To Waste One Of The Half-Dozen Cartridges Remaining.  The Light Wind 
 That Bore Us Away From The Launch Also Spread The Screen Of Steam 
 Between Us And Them.  A Shot Or Two From Schillingschens Rifle Proved 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 308 
 Him To Be Still Alive, And Still Determined, But Missed us By So Much 
 That We Began To Dare To Sit Upright.  Then Fred went Below To Sort Out 
 Wounded men, Plug Holes In the Dhow, And Stop The Panic, And We All 
 Prayed for Wind With A Fervor They Never Exceeded in nelson'S Fleet. 
   
   
 When Will Had Gone Below To Help Fred, The Panic Had Ceased, Two Dead 
 Men Had Been Thrown Overboard, And Six Of The Crew Had Been Set To Work 
 Bailing In deadly Earnest To Keep Ahead Of The New Leaks, There Was 
 Time To Consider The Position And To Realize How Hugely Better Off We 
 Were Than If The Launch Had Caught Us Somewhere Close Inshore.  Now We 
 Could Sail Safely Northward, Every Puff Of Wind Carrying Us Nearer To 
 British Water And Safety, Whereas Unless They Could Mend That 
 High-Pressure Boiler, They Would Have To Lie There For A Week, Or A 
 Month--Die Unless Some One Came In search Of Them.  Had We Holed their 
 Boiler Near The Shore They Would Have Been Able To Take To The Land 
 Until They Found Canoes.  Good Canoes, Well Manned, Could Have 
 Overhauled us Hand Over Fist Like Terriers After A Rat. 
   
   
 It Was Fifteen Minutes Yet Before We Were Out Of Rifle Range, And 
 Schillingschen Tried to Make The Most Of Them When The Steam Thinned, 
 Exposing His Beefy Carcass Recklessly.  But By The Time It Had Thinned 
 Down Sufficiently To Let Him Really See Us We Were Too Far Away To Make 
 Sure Shooting.  He Slit The Sail, Giving Us Half A Night'S Work To Mend 
 It, And Made Three More Holes In our Planking, But Hurt Nobody. 
   
   
 That Was The Only Launch The German Government Had On The Lake In those 
 Days, An Almost Perfect Toy With An Aluminum Hull And More Up-To-Date 
 Gadgets On Her Machinery Than A Battleship'S Engineer Could Have 
 Explained the Purpose Of In a Watch.  They Had Lavished a Whole 
 Appropriation On One Show.  From The Minute We Were Out Of Range Of 
 Schillingschen'S Big-Bore Elephant Gun We Ran Risk Of Starvation, And 
 Perhaps Surprise, But No Longer Of Pursuit, And We Headed the Queen Of 
 Sheba As Nearly As We Could Guess For British East With Feelings That 
 Even Lady Waldon Shared, For She Grew Distantly Polite Again, And 
 Complimented fred on His Cool Nerve And Accurate Shooting. 
   
   
 We Should Have Suspected treachery, For She Made No Attempt To 
 Retaliate On Rebecca For Scratching Her Face.  Unnatural Inaction 
 Should Have Put Us On Our Guard.  She Even Went So Far As To Compliment 
 The Maid On "Finding Such A Great, Strong, Brave Man As Coutlass To 
 Cherish Her."  The Greek Simply Cooed at That--Threw Out His Great 
 Chest And Rearranged with His Fingers The Whiskers That Had Almost 
 Totally Disguised him. 
   
   
 (There Was Not One Of Us But Looked like A Pirate By That Time.  The 
 Natives Of That Part Of Africa Shave Every Particle Of Hair From Their 
 Bodies Whenever They Get The Chance, And Prefer Their Heads As Shiny 
 And Naked as Any Other Part Of Them.  But The German Prison System, 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 309 
 Devised to Break The Spirit Of Whoever Came Within Its Clutches, 
 Included prohibition Of Shaving, So That We Had The Woolliest Crowd Of 
 Passengers Imaginable.) 
   
   
 We Found It Impossible To Help Being Sorry For Lady Waldon, Or Even For 
 The Maid, Who Suffered in spite Of Coutlass'S Kisses And Strong Arms. 
 The Obvious Fact That The Dhow Was No Place For A Woman Made Us 
 Overlook The Conduct Of Both Of Them Over And Over Again, Shutting Eyes 
 And Ears To Lady Waldon'S Meanness And The Maid'S Increasing Impudence. 
   
   
 Lady Waldon Actually Began To Set Her Own Cap At Coutlass, Encouraging 
 Him To Boast To The Porters, And Pretending To Admire The Gift With 
 Which He Told Them Tales In kiswahili That Would Have Made Even Her 
 Blush If She Had Understood The Half Of Them.  At Intervals The Maid 
 Grew Jealous, And Had To Be Kissed back To Serenity By Coutlass, Who 
 Was No Less In love With Her Because Of Any Mere Addition To The Number 
 Of His Interests.  He Could Have Made Hot Love To Six Women, And Have 
 Enjoyed it.  There Were Times When He Really Flattered himself That 
 Lady Waldon Admired his Looks And Fine Physique. 
   
   
 Food Was Now The Chief Concern.  We Trailed a Fishing Line Behind Us, 
 But Caught Nothing.  Brown Said There Were Too Many Crocodiles For Fish 
 To Be Plentiful, But On The Other Hand, Kazimoto, Who Surely Should 
 Have Known, Swore That The Water Was Full Of Big Fish, And That The 
 Islanders Lived on Little Else.  Whatever The Truth Of It, We Caught 
 Nothing;  And When We Reached an Island Whose Shore Was Lined with 
 Fish-Traps Made Of Stakes And Basket-Work We Searched all The Traps In 
 Vain.  The Natives We Saw In the Distance All Ran Away From Us, And 
 There Were No Crops That We Could See Of Any Kind, Which Rather Bore 
 Out Kazimoto'S Story. 
   
   
 "Crocks' Eggs Are What Those Savages Eat, I Tell You!" Brown Insisted. 
 "They'Re Wholesome And Don'T Taste Worse Than A Rotten Hen'S Egg."  We 
 Offered him His Own Price If He Would Eat One Himself In the Presence 
 Of Us All;  But Hungry Though We Were All Beginning To Be, He Refused, 
 And We Needed his Example. 
   
   
 After That First Island We Began To Sail Among A Regular Archipelago, 
 Most Of Them Scarcely Better Than Granite Rocks On Which The Crocodiles 
 Could Crawl To Sun Themselves, But Some Of Them A Half-Mile Long, Or 
 Longer.  Nearly All Of Them Were Barren, But At Last, When We Judged 
 Ourselves Well Inside The British Portion Of The Lake, We Came On A 
 Very Large One That Had A Mountain In the Middle Of It, And Contained a 
 Fair-Sized village Hidden Among Trees. 
   
   
 It Was Dark, And We Were All Famished when We Reached it, So When We 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 310 
 Had Poled the Dhow Into A Little Bay Between Granite Boulders Big 
 Enough To Hide Her, Mast And All, We Went Ashore, Made Fires, And 
 Served out The Last Handfuls Of Rice, Skimping Our Own Allowance To 
 Increase Those Of The Porters, Whose Larger Stomachs Afforded vaster 
 Yearning Power.  They Were Pitiably Meager Rations--A Mere Jest--An 
 Insult To Hungry Men;  But We Found Before We Had Cooked and Finished 
 Them That We Had Witnesses Who Thought Us Fortunate. 
   
   
 They Came So Silently That Even The Porters Did Not Notice Them At 
 First--Gaunt Black Shadows Flitting In the Deeper Shadows, And Coming 
 Presently To Squat Outside The Edge Of The Circle Of Firelight, Until A 
 Tribe, Men, Women And Little Children, Were All Gathered around Us 
 Burning Up The Darkness With Their Eyes. 
   
   
 They Were Hungrier Than We!  Our Food, That Looked so Scant To Us, To 
 Them Was A Very Feast Of The Gods!  They All Had Pieces Of Leather Or 
 Plaited grass Drawn Tight Around Their Middles To Lessen The Pangs Of 
 Hunger, And The Chief, Who Sat Rather Apart From The Rest, Gnawed at A 
 Piece Of Bark. 
   
   
 None Of Them Wore Any Clothes.  Those That Had Goat-Skin Aprons Had 
 Them On Behind, And They Were As Free From Self-Consciousness As The 
 Trees In winter.  Some Of Them Had Spears, And They All Had Knives, Yet 
 None Offered violence, Or As Much As Begged.  There Were Three Or Four 
 Hundred of Them, At The Lowest Reckoning, Yet They Allowed us To Finish 
 Our Meal In the Dark In peace. 
   
   
 There Was Nothing To Say When We Had Finished.  We Knew What The Matter 
 Was, And They Knew We Knew.  We Had Nothing To Share With Them, And 
 They Knew That, For They Could See The Empty Rice Bags That The Porters 
 Had Shaken And Beaten To Get Out The Very Dust.  We Did Not Know Their 
 Language;  Even Kazimoto Professed himself Ignorant Of Any Dozen Words 
 That Could Unlock Their Understanding. 
   
   
 Presently, Under The Eyes Of All Of Them, Fred got Out The Rifle From 
 Its Wrappings And Proceeded to Clean And Oil It Carefully, As Every 
 Genuine Hunter Should Before He Sleeps. 
   
   
 Then It Was Evident At Once That New Hope For Some Reason Had Been Born 
 Among That Silent Crowd.  The Chief, Uninvited, Drew Nearer And Watched 
 Every Detail Of Fred'S Husbandry With Glittering Eye. 
   
   
 "Give Him The Oily Rag To Suck!" Suggested brown, But That Proved not 
 To Be The Key To His Interest, For He Thrust The Rag Back Into Fred'S 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 311 
 Hand And Motioned to Him To Continue Cleaning. 
   
   
 Finally Fred examined the Last Handful Of Cartridges Carefully One By 
 One, And Filled the Magazine.  Then, After Making Sure The Sights Were 
 In Order, He Began To Wrap The Rifle Again. 
   
   
 But At That The Chief Held Out A Lean Long Arm And Stopped him. 
 Coutlass Sprang To His Feet In a Hurry, Imagining That Was A Signal To 
 Attack At Last, But Fred ordered him To Sit Down, And Lady Waldon, Who 
 Seemed possessed for The Once By Uncanny Calmness, Asked him To Give 
 Her An Arm To The Dhow, Where She Proposed to Try To Sleep.  Coutlass 
 Felt Flattered, And Obeyed.  The Maid Got Up And Followed them Both In 
 A Fury Of Jealousy, And They Three Were Lost To View In a Moment Among 
 The Shadows Cast By Our Four Flickering Fires.  The Other Greek Got Up 
 And Followed them, Leaving The Goanese Already Snoozing By The Fire. 
   
   
 Then, Just As The Half Of A Brilliantly Pale Moon Rose Above The 
 Papyrus, The Chief Came A Pace Nearer And Touched fred'S Hand.  Then He 
 Beckoned.  Then He Touched the Hand Again And Retreated backward. 
 Glancing around I Saw The Shadows That Were His Tribe Leaning Toward Us 
 In Strained attention, With Eyes For Nothing But Their Chief And Fred. 
 Understanding There Was Something That The Chief Desired him To Go And 
 Do, Fred passed the Rifle To Will And Rose To His Feet. 
   
   
 With Patience That Was Simply Pathetic The Chief Shook His Head And 
 Tried to Explain Something In weary-Motioned pantomime.  Fred took The 
 Rifle Back From Will.  The Chief Nodded.  Fred started to Follow Him, 
 And Then The Whole Tribe Sighed, With A Sound Like The Evening Wind 
 Rustling Through The Papyrus. 
   
   
 It Being Clear Now That He Was To Shoot Something, Fred took The 
 Wrappings Off The Rifle, Threw Them To Me, And Walked into The Dark, 
 The Chief Trotting ahead Like A Phantom And Glancing Back To Beckon 
 About Once A Minute.  Not Caring To Miss The Play, We Followed in 
 Indian File, I Bringing Up The Rear. 
   
   
 The Whole Tribe Rose At Once And Flitted along Beside Us On Our 
 Landward Side.  We Could Not Hear A Footfall, Or A Breath.  They Passed 
 Through Dry Grass Without Rustling, Neither Stumbling Nor Crowding One 
 Another, But All So Governed by One All-Absorbing Thought That They 
 Acted in absolute Unison.  That The Thought Was Food Did Not, Even In 
 Their Starving State, Make Them Forget The Crowning Need for Silence. 
 We With Our Leather Boots Made More Noise Than All They Together. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 312 
 We Passed along The Lake Shore For Half A Mile, Until Suddenly The 
 Chief, Looking Tall As A Stripped tree In the Pale Uncertain Light, 
 Threw Up An Arm And Waved it In a Circle.  Instantly The Whole Tribe 
 Vanished.  It Was As If A Puff Of Wind Had Blown Them;  Or As If They 
 Had Been Figures Thrown On A Screen By A Magic Lantern And Suddenly 
 Switched off At The Performer'S Whim. Then The Chief Continued forward, 
 We Marching More Carefully. 
   
   
 Now He Turned to The Half-Right And Followed a Narrow Track Across A 
 Neck Of Land That Jutted out Into The Lake.  We Approached a Low Rise, 
 And As He Drew Near The Top Of That He Went Down On Hands And Knees, 
 Crawling Up The Last Few Yards So Cautiously That I Had To Stare Hard 
 To Be Sure He Was There At All. 
   
   
 As Soon As Fred came Near He Made Frantic Signals To Him To Get Down 
 And Crawl Too;  So We All Knelt Down And Crawled behind Fred, Striving 
 To Make No Noise And Filling The Unhappy Chief So Full Of Fury At The 
 Noise We Did Make That He Writhed in nervous Torment. 
   
   
 On Top Of The Rise Fred stopped and In imitation Of The Chief Thrust 
 His Head Forward Very Gradually.  One By One We Followed suit Until, 
 Lying Prone In line Along The Ridge Within Thirty Paces Of The Water, 
 We Saw At Last What We Were After. 
   
   
 Bathed in the Moonlight, Head And Shoulders Clear Of The Mirror-Like 
 Water, A Great Bull Hippopotamus Surveyed the Scenery, Drinking In 
 Contentment Through His Little Placid Eyes.  Out There Nothing Troubled 
 Him, As For Instance The Mosquitoes Troubled us.  He Had Eaten His 
 Fill, For Some Sort Of Green Stuff Hung From His Jaws;  And He Was 
 Beginning To Feel Sleepy, For Be Opened his Enormous Mouth And Yawned 
 Straight Toward Us--Three Tons Of Meat On The Hoof, Less Than A Hundred 
 Yards Away, Stock-Still, And Unsuspicious! 
   
   
 The Chief Began Whispering Unintelligible Warnings In a Voice So Low 
 That It Sounded like The Drone Of Insects.  Fred thrust The Rifle 
 Forward Inch By Inch And, Taking His Time About It, Settled himself 
 Comfortably For The Shot.  It Was No Easy Shot In that Uncertain Light 
 At A Downward Angle.  The Glare Of The Sun On The Lake Had Troubled his 
 Eyes During The Last Few Days.  The Shimmer Of The Moonlight Was 
 Deceptive Now.  I Wished he Would Pass The Rifle To Will, Or Even To 
 Brown Of Lumbwa, Who Was Digging His Fingers Into The Earth Beside Me 
 In Almost Uncontrollable Excitement.  But Fred was Unperturbed, And The 
 Chief, Who Was Nervous Enough To Detect The Slightest Sign Of 
 Nervousness In fred, Did Not Seem To Mistrust Him For One Second. 
   
   
 Three Times I Saw Fred breathe Deeply, As If About To Squeeze The 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 313 
 Trigger, But Each Time He Was Only "Makkin' Sikkar," And Eased his 
 Lungs Again.  The Target A Hippo Offers To A Mauser Rifle Bullet Is Not 
 Much More Than Half The Size Of A Man'S Hand, Including Only The Ear 
 And Eye And The Narrow Space Between Them.  By Daylight At A Hundred 
 Yards That Is Nothing For A Cool Shot To Complain About, But In 
 Half-Moonlight, At That Angle, It Is None Too Much.  I Swore Silently, 
 Wishing again And Again That Fred would Pass The Rifle To Will, Or To 
 Brown--Or To Me!  Yet If He Had Passed it To Me I Should Have Trembled 
 Worse Than Any One. 
   
   
 Visions Began To Haunt Me Of What Would Happen If Fred should Miss! 
 What Would The Effect Be On Wild Folk Tortured by Hunger And Keyed to 
 The Pitch Of Frenzy By Suspense?  Then, Even While We Watched, Another 
 Problem Added itself.  Over On The Water There Began To Come A Wind, 
 Driving Ripples And Little Waves In front Of It.  The Moment Those Came 
 Near The Hippo Be Would Vanish From View, For They Only Care For 
 Moonlight When They Can See It Mirrored on A Perfectly Still Surface 
   
   
 I Cursed fred between Set Teeth, Almost Loud Enough For Him To Hear Me; 
  For The Hippo Did Move.  His Head Was A Foot Nearer Water-Level;  He 
 Had Seen Or Heard Something That Alarmed him.  He Was In the Act Of 
 Sinking Under Water When Fred made Sure Of The Sights At Last And The 
 Rifle Spoke, Ringing Out Into The Still Night Like The Crack Of 
 Judgment Day, More Startling Because We Had Waited so Long For It In 
 Such Suspense. 
   
   
 Instantly The Amazing Happened.  A Yell Burst Out Behind Us That Split 
 The Night Apart.  Where Stilly Blackness Had Been, Now Four Or Five 
 Hundred crazy Shadows Leaped and Danced, Murdering The Silence With 
 Marrow-Curdling Noises Intended to Express Joy. 
   
   
 Out On The Water The Stricken Hippo Pitched head Downward And Plunged 
 Like A Mountain Of Meat Gone Mad, Thrashing Up Great Waves That Were 
 Darkened with His Life-Blood.  A Whole Herd, Several Hundred strong, 
 Emerged shoulder-High From The Water To Take One Swift Look At Him And 
 Flee.  The Arriving Wind Overswept The Little Whirlpools They All Made 
 In The Moonlight, As They Dived to Seek Seclusion Somewhere And No 
 Doubt To Choose Themselves A New Bully After Terrific Fighting. 
   
   
 Our Quarry Plunged a Last Time, And Stayed under.  Now Was New Anxiety. 
  In twenty Minutes Or Half An Hour He Should Rise To The Surface Again, 
 But No Man Could Guess Where, And The Wind And Currents Would Very 
 Swiftly Hide His Great Carcass Somewhere Amid The Acres Of Papyrus 
 Unless Sharp Eyes Were Alert. 
   
   
 But The Papyrus Was Friend As Well As Foe.  In a Space Of Time To Be 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 314 
 Measured by Seconds The Yelling Young Men Of The Tribe Had Uncovered 
 Three Canoes, Hidden From Marauding Enemies Among The 
 More-Than-Man-High Reeds, And The Rest Of The Tribe--Men, Women And 
 Young Ones--Scattered along The Shore To Watch From Between The Stalks. 
   
   
 In Less Than Fifteen Minutes Some One Yelled, And Even The Very Old 
 Men, Who Had Stayed beside Us To Gape At Fred'S Rifle And Our Clothes 
 And Boots, Began Running Like Hares Toward The Sound.  In twenty 
 Minutes After That, With The Aid Of Grass Ropes And Leather Thongs, 
 They Had Hauled the Huge Carcass To The Shore And Rolled it Out Of The 
 Water, Where It Lay Glistening In moonlight, Stumpy, Foolish, Legs 
 Uppermost. 
   
   
 The Butcher'S Work----The Feast--Did Not Begin Yet.  There Was 
 Time-Honored custom To Obey, Which Kazimoto Knew All About Even If 
 Those Ignorant Wachenzie* Would Have Fallen To Without Ceremony.  He 
 Drove Them Off.  A White Man Had Slain That Animal;  Therefore The 
 White Man'S Choice Of Meat Was First, And He Very Leisurely And 
 Skillfully Cut Out The Enormous Tongue For Us And Fifty Pounds Of Meat 
 For Our Following Before He Would Let Them As Much As Touch The Carcass 
 With A Dagger.   [* Plural Of Machenzie, "Man From 'Way Back,'" 
 "Rube," "Simp."] 
   
   
 Then, Though, The Tribe Fell To, Naked, With Little Naked 
 Knives--Tearing Off The Thick Hide In foot-Wide Strips, And Hacking The 
 Red flesh Into Lumps That They Ate, Raw And Quivering, While They 
 Worked.  The Little Bits Of Children, Each Chewing Raw Bloody Meat, 
 Brought Baskets For The Overflow, Dragging Them To Wherever They Could 
 Find A Space Between The Legs Of Struggling Men, The Women Emptying The 
 Baskets Almost As Fast As The Children Filled them, And Chewing Until 
 Their Jaws Ran Blood. 
   
   
 Nothing Was Wasted.  The Blood Was Caught In pools In part Of The Hide, 
 Spread Like An Apron On The Earth, And Lapped up By Whoever Could Get 
 To It.  The Very Guts Were Gathered up In baskets To Be Cooked.  And 
 Where The Last Little Soft Iron Dagger Had Done Its Work, The Blood Had 
 Been Drunk, And The Last Scrap Of Hide Bad Been Cut Into Strips, To Be 
 Chewed when The Meat And Its Memory Were Things Of The Past, The 
 Enormous Ribs Lay Glistening In the Moonlight Like Those Of An 
 Abandoned wreck, Picked as Clean As If The Kites Had Done It. 
   
   
 "Have We Done A Commendable Thing?" Laughed fred, Looking at The 
 Crowd'S Distended paunches.  "There'S A Good Bull Hippo The Less. 
 We'Ve Saved the Lives For A Time Of Several Hundred gluttons.  They 
 Know Neither Grace Nor Gratitude." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 315 
 But He Was Wrong.  They Did.  They Brought Fred a Woman--Their Fattest, 
 Ugliest;  Which Means She Was Skin And Bone And Uglier Than Want, Also 
 She Was More Afraid Of Fred than Satan Is Said To Be Of Shriving.  The 
 Chief Led her By The Hand, She Hanging Back And Hiding Her Face Under 
 One Arm (Which Left The Rest Of Her Nakedness Unprotected).  He Seized 
 Fred'S Hand And Put The Woman'S In it. 
   
   
 "Now You'Re Spliced!" Brown Explained.  "Married to The Gal Forever In 
 Presence Of Legal Witnesses!" 
   
   
 Kazimoto Confirmed the Fearful News. 
   
   
 "Married in regular Form An' Accord With Tribal Custom!"  Brown 
 Continued, Nodding Solemnly. 
   
   
 "Divorce Me--Soon And Swiftly, Somebody!" Fred demanded. 
   
   
 We Appealed to Kazimoto For Information, But Only Threw Him Into A 
 Quandary, And He Proceeded to Add To Ours.  The Usual Price For A 
 Woman, It Seemed, Was Cows--Many Or Few According as She Was Lovely Or 
 Her Father Rich. In case Of Divorce, Custom Decreed that The Cows With 
 Their Offspring Should Be Given Back.  The Objection To Any Other 
 Property Than Cows Changing Hands To Bind Or Loose In wedlock Was That 
 Food, For Instance, When Eaten Was Not Returnable. 
   
   
 "Married to The Gal For Good An! All!"' Brown Grinned, Nudging Will And 
 Me To Note Fred'S Consternation.  "You'D Better Stay Here An' Take The 
 Chief'S Job When He Kicks The Bucket--Possibly You Can Speed the Day By 
 Overfeedin' Him!" 
   
   
 "Some Men'S Luck," Will Murmured, But Stopped in mid-Sentence, For 
 Interruption Came In the Form Of A Weird Figure, Gesticulating Like A 
 Windmill, Stumbling and Careening Through The Gloom, Shouting as It 
 Came.  Not Until It Was Thirty Yards Away Did An Intelligible Sound 
 Explain At Least Who The Apparition Was. 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!  Give Me That Gun!" 
   
   
 Coutlass Burst In among Us So Out Of Breath That He Could Not Force 
 Through His Teeth Another Rational Syllable, But He Made His Intentions 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 316 
 Partly Clear By Snatching at Fred'S Rifle, Persisting Until Will And I 
 Pulled him Off. 
   
   
 "The Dhow'S Gone!" He Panted at Last.  "Give Me That Rifle, Or Come 
 Yourself!  Hurry!  There'S A Wind!  You'Ll Be Too Late!" 
   
   
 "You'Re Dreaming Or Drunk!" Fred answered, But Coutlass Refused to Be 
 Disbelieved, And In another Moment We Were All Running as Fast As We 
 Dared through The Darkness Toward The Camp-Fires, Where We Had Left The 
 Goanese Snoozing and The Dhow Snugly Moored among The Rocks. 
   
   
 The Chief And His Followers Far Outdistanced us In spite Of Their 
 Gorged condition--All Except The Woman, Who Jogged dutifully, Although 
 Unhappily, Behind Fred.  When We Reached the Campfires They Were 
 Standing Gazing Out On The Lake, Where We Could Just Make Out The 
 Bellying Sail Of The Queen Of Sheba Leaning Like A Phantom Away From 
 The Gaining Wind.  The Distance Was Not To Be Judged in that Weak 
 Uncertain Light.  We All Shouted together, But There Came No Answer And 
 We Could Not Tell Whether The Sound Carried as Far As The Dhow Or Not. 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!--Why Don'T You Shoot!" Shouted coutlass, Dancing Up And 
 Down The Bank In frenzy.  "Give Me That Rifle!  I'Ll Show You!  I'Ll 
 Teach Them!" 
   
   
 I Believe I Would Have Fired if The Rifle Had Been In my Hands.  Brown, 
 Last To Arrive And Most Out Of Breath, Joined with Coutlass In angry 
 Shouts For Vengeance.  Will Offered no Argument Against Sending Them A 
 Parting Shot.  Fred set The Butt Of The Rifle Down With A Determined 
 Snort, Walked over Toward The Fire, Stirred the Embers, Threw On More 
 Fuel, And Looked about Him When The Dry Wood Blazed. 
   
   
 "If She Has Left As Much As One Blanket Among The Lot Of Us, I Don'T 
 See It Anywhere!" He Said, Taking His Seat On A Rock. 
   
   
 "A Blanket?" Sneered coutlass.  "She Has Even Your Money!  Worse Than 
 That--She Has My Woman!  You Were A Gum-Gasted galoot Not To Shoot At 
 Her!" 
   
   
 Fred patted the Bulging Pocket Of His Shooting Jacket. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 317 
 "Most Of The Money Is Here" He Said Quietly, And We All Sighed with 
 Relief. 
   
   
 "Take Canoes And Chase Them!" Shouted coutlass, Beginning To Dance Up 
 And Down Again. 
   
   
 "There'S Time Enough" Fred answered.  "We Know The Winds Of These Parts 
 Well Enough By This Time.  This Will Blow Until Midnight.  Then Calm 
 Until Dawn.  After Dawn A Little More Wind For An Hour Or Two, Then 
 Doldrums Again Until Late Afternoon.  They'Ll Run On A Rock In all 
 Likelihood.  If They Do We Can Catch Them At Our Leisure, Supposing We 
 Can Get These Islanders To Paddle.  If It Should Blow Hard, Then We 
 Can'T Catch Them Anyhow.  Sit Down And Tell Us What Happened, Coutlass!" 
   
   
 The Greek Cursed and Swore And Pranced, But All In vain.  Fred was 
 Inexorable.  We Others Grew Calmer When The Problem Of Who Should 
 Paddle The Canoes Solved itself Suddenly With The Arrival Of Fourteen 
 Of Our Own Men.  Discovering Themselves Left Behind, They Had Run Along 
 The Bank In vain Hope Of Catching The Dhow Somehow--Perchance Of 
 Swimming Through The Crocodile-Infested water, And Returned now 
 Disconsolate, To Leap And Laugh With New Hope At Sight Of Us And Of The 
 Red meat That Kazimoto Had Thrown On The Ground Near The Fire.  They 
 Came Near In a Cluster.  Will Hacked off A Lump Of Meat For Them, And 
 They Forthwith Forgot Their Troubles, As Instantly As The Birds Forget 
 When A Sparrow-Hawk Has Done Murder Down A Hedge-Row And Swooped away. 
   
   
 Not Everything Was Gone After All.  Kazimoto Found The Pots We Had 
 Cooked the Rice In, And Started to Boil The Hippo'S Tongue For Us. 
   
   
 "Come, Coutlass--Sit Down Before We Eat And Tell Us What Happened," 
 Fred suggested. 
   
   
 The Greek Paced up And Down Another Time Or Two, And At Last Calmed 
 Himself Sufficiently To Laugh At Fred'S Woman, Who Had Squatted down 
 Patiently In the Shadow Behind Him. 
   
   
 "Easy For You!" He Grinned savagely, Squatting On The Far Side Of The 
 Fire.  "You Have A Woman!  Mine Is God Knows Where!  She Said To 
 Me--That Hell-Damned lady Saffren Waldon Said To Me--We Sat All Three 
 Together In the Stern Of The Dhow, I With My Arm Around Rebecca, And 
 She Said To Me--" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 318 
 "I'Ll See If I Can'T Make A Dicker For The Chief'S Canoes," Will 
 Interrupted.    "We Can Hear The Greek'S Tale Any Old Time." 
   
   
 "Trade My Woman For Them!" Fred suggested cheerfully.  "Go On, 
 Coutlass!" 
   
   
 The Greek Gritted his Teeth Savagely.  "She Said--That Hell-Damned lady 
 Saffren Waldon Said, As We Sat There In the Dhow, 'How About The 
 Kicking Fred oakes Gave You On The Island, Mr. Coutlass?  Where Is Your 
 Greek Honor?'--Do You See?  She Worked on My Bodily Bruises And My 
 Spiritual Courage At The Same Time--The Cunning Hussy!  'That Fred 
 Oakes Will Win This Rebecca Away From You Very Soon!' She Went On.  'I 
 Have Watched him."' 
   
   
 Fred smiled about As Comfortably As A Martyr On The Grid.  The Presence 
 Of The Dusky Damsel, Confirmed by Her Smell Behind Him, Made Him Touchy 
 On The Subject Of Sex. 
   
   
 "Presently She Said To Me, 'I Have My Own Affairs That Will Adjust 
 Themselves All The Better For Their Absence When I Get To British East. 
  As For You, They Will Simply Report You To The Authorities For Raiding 
 Those Cattle Of Brown'S.  Can You Imagine That Creature Brown Forgiving 
 You?  He Will Have You Thrown In jail!  Why Wait?  But We Must Not 
 Leave The Goanese Or The Other Porters, And We Must Hurry!  You Go,' 
 She Said, 'And Send The Goanese And The Rest Of The Porters On Board!' 
   
   
 "So I Did Go.  I Kicked de Sousa Awake, And He Cursed me, Because My 
 Toe Landed once Or Twice On His Thigh Where The Bullet Wounded him.  I 
 Drove Him On Board, And She Put Him To Work With Kamarajes Getting Up 
 The Sail.  Then I Went Off To Get Those Cursed porters.  I Could Not 
 Find Them!  The Dogs Had Gone To The Village, To Find Women I Don'T 
 Doubt!  I Tell You What I Would Do To Them If They Were Mine!" 
   
   
 "Never Mind That!" Fred cut In.  We Could All Guess What Form The 
 Punishment Would Take.  "Get On With The Tale!  You Couldn'T Find The 
 Porters.  What Next?" 
   
   
 "I Decided to Leave The Dogs Behind, And Serve Them Right!  I Went Back 
 To The Dhow In a Great Hurry.  She Was Gone!  Vanished!  Disappeared as 
 If The Lake Had Opened up And Swallowed her!  I Could Just See The Sail 
 In The Distance.  I Shouted!  No Answer!  I Shouted again.  I Heard 
 Rebecca Call To Me!  Then I Heard Laughter--Lady Isobel Saffren 
 Waldon'S Laughter!  Gassharamminy!  I Will Run Red-Hot Skewers Into 
 That Woman When I Catch Her!  Do You See How She Has Vengeance On 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 319 
 Rebecca?  Do You See Now Why She Took Sides Between Me And Kamarajes 
 And De Sousa?  Do You See How She Has Plotted?  What Will She Do Now? 
 What Will She Do?" 
   
   
 He Began To Pace Up And Down Again Furiously, Shaking Both Fists At The 
 Unresponsive Stars. 
   
   
 "She Will Do Rebecca An Injury!  She Will Give That Girl To De Sousa Or 
 To That Old Kamarajes!  We Shall Never Catch Them!  Gassharamminy!  Oh, 
 Absalom!  You Should Have Fired when I Told You!  That She-Dog Has A 
 Trick Of Some Kind Up Her Sleeve Yet!  How Shall We Catch Her?  Why Do 
 We Wait?  Give Me That Rifle!  I Will Take A Canoe And Go After Them 
 Alone!  You Do Not Know What Greek Spirit Is!  I Am American 
 Sometimes--English When It Suits Me--Always Greek When I Am Wronged!" 
   
   
 "You Certainly Have Been Put Upon" Fred answered.  "Tell Us How Your 
 Greek Spirit Justified deserting Us." 
   
   
 "Why Not?" Snarled coutlass.  "Do You Love Me?  What Would You Do To Me 
 If You Could Get Me To British East In your Power?  You Would Hand Me 
 Over As A Cattle Thief!" 
   
   
 "You Bet I Will!" Admitted brown Of Lumbwa.  "You Dog, You'Ve Ruined 
 Me!" 
   
   
 "What Did I Tell You?" Demanded coutlass.  "Why, Then, Should I Not 
 Look Out For Myself?" 
   
   
 "I Think We'D Better Leave You On This Island," Fred told Him Quietly. 
 "We Can'T Trust You Out Of Sight.  The Only Way To Prevent You From 
 Stealing This Rifle And Murdering Us All Would Be To Lie Awake In 
 Turns." 
   
   
 "Bah!" Grinned the Greek, Striding Back Toward The Fire.  "How Many 
 Cartridges Have You Left?  Five, Eh?  After I Had Murdered all Of You, 
 How Many Would Remain?" 
   
   
 "You'Ll Have To Think Of A Better Argument Than That," Smiled fred, And 
 For The First Time I Suspected he Was Speaking In deadly Earnest. 
 Coutlass Suspected it, Too, And Grew Still.  The Sweat Burst Out On His 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 320 
 Face, And His Eyes Bulged from Their Sockets. 
   
   
 "You Will Leave Me Here?" He Stammered. 
   
   
 Fred nodded, Smiling Up At Him. 
   
   
 "You See, You'Re Such On All-In Scoundrel!" Brown Assured him. 
   
   
 "You!  You Poor Drunkard!" Coutlass Turned his Back On Brown, And Faced 
 Fred squarely.  "You Are A Man, Mr. Oakes!  I Can Speak To You As To My 
 Brother." 
   
   
 Fred smiled blandly. 
   
   
 "I Will Speak To You God'S Truth!" 
   
   
 Fred grinned. 
   
   
 "I Will Tell You Where The Ivory Is!" 
   
   
 Fred threw His Head Back And Laughed outright. 
   
   
 "I Speak To You On My Honor!  That Mother Of Misery, Lady Saffren 
 Waldon, Stole A Map From Shillingschen.  Before I Would Agree To Set 
 The Town On Fire I Made Her Give Me That For A Hostage, Lest She Should 
 Prove Treacherous And Leave Me Behind After All!  I Have It Now!  It Is 
 Marked with A Circle To Show Where Schillingschen Believes The Stuff 
 Must Be, Because He Has Searched everywhere Else!" 
   
   
 "If That Map Is Worth Anything," Fred countered, "How Did Lady Saffren 
 Waldon Care To Leave You Behind With It?" 
   
   
 "The Harridan Forgot It!" Answered coutlass.  "She Was So Delighted to 
 Get Vengeance On Rebecca By Taking Her Away From Me That She Did Not 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 321 
 Care For Anything Else!  She Hates You!  She Hates Me!  She Hates 
 Rebecca!  Those Who Hate--As I Can Hate!--Would Rather Have Revenge 
 Than All The Riches Of Africa!  Do You Think I Would Hesitate Between 
 Money And Revenge On Her?" 
   
   
 "All Right," Fred answered.  "The Map, Then--What About It?" 
   
   
 "Take Me With You And The Map Is Yours!" 
   
   
 "Show It To Me, Then!" 
   
   
 "I Must Have A Share Of The Ivory!" 
   
   
 "Show Me The Map First!" 
   
   
 Coutlass Searched inside His Flannel Shirt--Swiftly--More 
 Swiftly--Angrily.  His Jaw Dropped.  Even Between The Fire-Light And 
 The Moonlight One Could Judge That His Color Changed--And Changed again. 
   
   
 "Show Me The Map Before We Bargain!" Fred insisted.  "Hurry, Man! 
 There'S Mr. Yerkes With The Canoe.  We Can'T Wait Here All Night!" 
   
   
 "It Is Gone!" Admitted coutlass.  "Some One Stole It!" 
   
   
 "I Could Have Told You That In the First Place," Fred informed him, 
 Rising To His Feet.  "I Have The Map In my Pocket." 
   
   
 "You Stole It?" Coutlass Gasped. 
   
   
 "Certainly Not.  Rebecca Stole It While She Was Supposed to Be Sleeping 
 In Your Arms!" 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!  I Might Have Known It!  Those Syrians--She Meant To 
 Give Us All The Slip And Find The Ivory Herself!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 322 
 "Nothing Of The Sort!" Said Fred.  "She Stole It From You, To Give It 
 To Lady Saffren Waldon!  Kazimoto Saw Her Do It--Saw Where Lady Waldon 
 Hid It--And Stole It From Her While She Slept To Give To Me, Believing 
 It To Be Something Of Mine.  Here It Is!" 
   
   
 Fred let The End Of A Folded map Protrude From His Inner Pocket Just 
 Far Enough For Coutlass To Recognize It By The Fire-Light.  The Greek 
 Turned on His Heel. 
   
   
 "All Right!" Be Said Ruefully, Swinging Suddenly Round Again.  "If You 
 Were Alone I Would Fight You, My Knife Against Your Rifle!  I Can Not 
 Fight All Four Of You!  Go Away Then, And Be Damned!  I Have Nothing To 
 Offer.  There Is Nothing I Can Do.  Leave Me, And I Will Look After 
 Myself!" 
   
   
 "Now You'Re Talking Like A Man." Said Fred. 
   
   
 "Leave Me That Woman Of Yours, And Go To Hell, All Of You!" Laughed the 
 Greek. 
   
   
 Fred seemed suddenly Possessed of A Bright Idea.  He Turned to The 
 Woman And Beckoned her To Rise.  Then In unmistakable Pantomime He Went 
 Through The Motions Of Presenting Her To Coutlass.  The Woman 
 Gasped--Stammered something That Was Positively Not Consent--Stared 
 With Frightened eyes At Coutlass--Shook Her Shaven Head Violently--And 
 Ran Away Into The Darkness, Pursued by Roars Of Laughter That Speeded 
 Her On Her Way. 
   
   
 "A Clear Case Of Desertion!" Announced fred judicially.  "You Men Are 
 Witnesses!"  Then He Turned once More To Coutlass.  "I Don'T Think 
 We'Ll Leave You To Raise Cain On This Island.  It Depends On You 
 Whether We Find You A Lonelier Island--Turn You Loose Or Hand You Over 
 To The Authorities In british East!" 
   
   
 "Good!" Coutlass Shouted.  "By Jingo, You Are A Gentleman!  You Are The 
 Best Man In the World!  I Will Treat You As My Brother!" 
   
   
 "Thanks!" Said Fred dryly. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 11 ("David Prevailed") Pg 323 
 "Aren'T You Men Ever Coming?" Asked will, Striding Out Of The Shadows. 
 "I'Ve Made The Dicker--Found A Man Who'D Been On The Mainland And Knows 
 Swahili.  The Chief'S Agreeable To Loan Us Two Canoes In place Of 
 Deeding You The Woman.  I Took Your Name In vain, Fred, And Consented 
 To That While Your Back Was Turned--Kick All You Like--The Deed is 
 Done!  Four Of His Savages Come With Us As Far As We Want To Go, We 
 Feeding 'Em Meat And Paying 'Em Money.  It'S Agreed they'Re To Eat Just 
 As Often As We Do.  They Paddle The Canoes Back Home When We'Re Through 
 With Them.  Are You All Ready?  Then All Aboard!  Let'S Hurry!" 
   
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 324 
 When The Last Of The Luck Has Deserted and The Least Of The     Chances 
 Has Waned, 
 When There'S Nowhere To Run To And Even The Pluck In the Smile  That 
 You Carry Is Feigned; 
 When Grimmer Than Yesterday'S Horror To-Morrow Dawns Hungry And 
 Cold, 
 And Your Faith In the Coming Unknown Is Denied in regret For    The 
 Known And The Old, 
 Then You'Re Facing, My Son, What The Fathers From Abraham Down  To 
 To-Day 
 Have Looked on Alone, And Stood Up To Alone, And Each In his    Several 
 Way 
 O'Ercame (Or He Shouldn'T Be Father).  So Ye Shall O'Ercome:    While 
 Ye Live, 
 Though Ye'Ve Nothing But Breath And Good-Will To Your Name Ye   Must 
 Stand To It Naked, And Give! 
   
   
 Ye Shall Learn In that Hour That The Plunder Ye Won By  Profession Is 
 Nought - 
 And False Was The Aim Ye Aspired with--And Dross Was The        Glamour 
 Ye Sought - 
 The Codes And The Creeds That Ye Cherished were Shadows Of      Clouds 
 In The Wind, 
 (And Ye Can Not Recall For Their Counsel Lost Leaders Ye        Dallied 
 Behind!) 
 Ye Shall Stand In that Hour And Discover By Agony'S Guttering   Flame 
 How The Fruits Of Self-Will, And The Lees Of Ambition And 
 Bitterness All Are The Same, 
 Until, Stripped of Desire, Ye Shall Know That Was Death.  Then  The 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 325 
 Proof That Ye Live 
 Shall Be Knowledge New-Born That The Naked--The Fools And The   Felons, 
 Can Give! 
   
   
 Then The Suns And The Stars In their Courses Shall Speedily     Swing 
 To Your Aid, 
 And Nothing Shall Hinder You Further, And Nothing Shall Make    You 
 Afraid, 
 For The Veriest Edges Of Evil Shall Challenge Your Joy, And No  More, 
 And Room For The Right Shall Shine Clear In your Vision Where   Wrong 
 Was Before. 
 Then The Stones In the Road Shall Be Restful That Used to Be    Traps 
 For Your Feet, 
 Then The Crowd Shall Be Kind That Was Cruel Before, And Your 
 Solitude Sweet 
 That Was Want To Be Gloomy Aforetime And Gray--When The Proof   That Ye 
 Live 
 Is No Longer The Pain Of Desire, But The Will--And The Wit--And 
 The Vision, To Give! 
   
   
 The Canoes Were The Usual Crazy Affairs, Longer And Rather Wider Than 
 The Average.  The Bottom Portion Of Each Was Made From A Tree-Trunk, 
 Hollowed out By Burning, And Chipped very Roughly Into Shape.  The 
 Sides Were Laboriously Hewn Planks, Stitched into Place With Thread 
 Made From Papyrus. 
   
   
 Some Of The Men Left Behind Were Our Personal Servants.  Counting Them 
 And Kazimoto, There Were Twenty Natives Remaining With Us, Making, With 
 The Four Men Lent Us By The Chief, An Allowance Of Twelve To Each 
 Canoe.  If We Had Had Loads As Well It Would Have Been A Problem How To 
 Get The Whole Party Away;  But As Lady Saffren Waldon Had Left Us 
 Nothing But Three Cooking-Pots, We Just Contrived to Crowd The Last Man 
 In Without Passing The Danger Point, Fred taking Charge Of The First 
 Canoe With Brown Of Lumbwa And Kazimoto, And Leaving Coutlass With The 
 Other Canoe To Will And Me.  We Agreed it Was Most Convenient To Keep 
 The Greek And The Rifle Separated by A Stretch Of Water. 
   
   
 There Is One Inevitable, Invariable Way Of Starting On A Journey By 
 Canoe In africa.  Somebody Pushes Off.  The Naked paddlers, Seated at 
 Intervals Down Either Side, Strain Their Toes Against A Thwart Or A 
 Rib.  The Leading Paddler Yells, And Off You Go With A Swing and A 
 Rhythmic Thunder As They All Bring Their Paddles Hard Against The 
 Boat'S Side At The End Of Each Stroke. Fifty--Sixty--Seventy--Perhaps A 
 Hundred strokes They Take At Top Speed, And The Passenger Settles Down 
 To Enjoy Himself, For There Is No More Captivating Motion In the World. 
  Then Suddenly They Stop, And All Begin Arguing at Top Of Their Lungs. 
 Unless The Passenger Is A Man Of Swift Decision And Firm Purpose There 
 Is Frequently A Fight At That Stage, Likely To End In overturned canoes 
 And An Adventure Among The Crocodiles. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 326 
 Our Voyage Broke No Precedents.  We Started off In fine Style, Feeling 
 Like Old-Time Emperors Traveling In state; And Within Ten Minutes We 
 Were Using Paddles Ourselves To Poke And Beat Our Men Into 
 Understanding Of The Laws Of Balance, They Abusing One Another While 
 The Canoes Rocked and Took In water Through The Loosely Laid On Planks. 
   
   
 The Fiber Stitching Began To Give Out Very Soon After That, Because 
 When Not In use The Canoes Were Always Hauled out Somewhere And The 
 Dried-Out Fiber Cracked and Broke.  We Had All To Sit To One Side While 
 Some One Restitched the Planking.  Later, When A Wind Came Up And The 
 Quick Short Sea Arose Peculiar To Lakes, We Were Very Glad We Had Done 
 That Job So Early. 
   
   
 It Was Only The First Mile That As Much As Suggested enjoyment.  Never 
 Accustomed to Much Paddling In any Case, Our Own Men Had Suffered from 
 Hunger And Confinement In the Reeking Hot Dhow.  Then, Hippo Meat Needs 
 Hours Of Cooking To Be Wholesome (Our Own Share Of It Was Still In the 
 Pot, Waiting To Be Boiled more Thoroughly At The Next Halting Place). 
 They Had Merely Toasted their Tough Lumps In the Camp-Fire Embers And 
 Gobbled it.  The Result Was A Craving For Sleep, Noisily Seconded by 
 The Chief'S Four Men, Who Had Eaten The Stuff Without Cooking at All, 
 And In enormous Quantities. 
   
   
 We Began With A Keen Determination To Overhaul The Dhow, That Dwindled 
 As We Had Time To Think The Matter Over; Wondering What We Should Do 
 With Two Such Women In case We Should Capture Them, And How We Should 
 Prevent Coutlass In that Case From Acting Like A Savage. 
   
   
 "Why Don'T We Leave 'Em To Make Their Own Explanations?" I Proposed at 
 Last.  "We Can Claim Our Few Belongings At Any Time If We See Fit." 
 But The Suggestion Took Time To Recommend Itself. 
   
   
 That Night Until Nearly Morning We Fretted at Every Rest The Paddlers 
 Took--Drove Them Unmercifully--Ran Risks Of Overturning On The Slippery 
 Shoulders Of Partly Submerged rocks--Took Long Turns Ourselves To 
 Relieve The Weary Men, Coutlass Working Harder Than The Rest Of Us.  It 
 Would Have Been A Bad Night'S Work If We Had Overhauled the Dhow And 
 Loosed him To Do His Will. 
   
   
 "Think Of The Baggage!" He Kept Shouting To The Night At Large. "Lying 
 In The Arms Of Georges Coutlass, Kissing and Being Kissed, Simply To 
 Rob Him--Coutlass--Me!  Think Of It!  Only Think Of It.  She Lay In the 
 Hook Of My Right Arm And Only Thought Of How To Win Back The Favor Of 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 327 
 The Other She-Hellion!  And I Was Deceived by Such A Cabbage!  Wait 
 Though!  Nobody Ever Turned a Trick On Georges Coutlass More Than Once! 
  Wait Till We Catch Them!  See What I Do To Them!  I Don'T Forget 
 Kamarajes Either, Or That Bastard De Sousa, Also Pretending They Were 
 Friends Of Mine!  Heiah!  Hurry!  Drive The Paddles In, You Lazy Black 
 Men!" 
   
   
 It Was More His Hunger For Revenge Than Any Other One Thing That Tipped 
 The Scales Of Indecision And Called us Off The Chase.  A Little Before 
 Morning, At About That Darkest Hour, When The Stars Have Seen The 
 Coming Sun But The World Is Not Yet Aware Of It, Fred called to Us To 
 Turn In toward A Barren-Looking Hill Of Granite That Rose Almost Sheer 
 Out Of The Water But At One Corner Offered a Shelving Landing Place. 
 There We All Clambered out To Stretch Cramped muscles And Make A Fire 
 To Cook The Hippo'S Tongue, Coutlass Cursing Us For Letting What He 
 Called idleness Come Between Us And Revenge. 
   
   
 Kazimoto Had Scarcely More Than Gathered an Armful Of Wood, Thrown It 
 Down, And Gone To Hunt For More;  One Of The Other Boys Had Struck A 
 Match, And The First Little Flicker Of Crimson Fire And Purple Smoke 
 Was Starting To Curl Skyward, When Fred jumped on It And Stamped it Out. 
   
   
 "Silence!" He Ordered.  "Keep Still Every One!" And Repeated it Twice 
 In Kiswahili For The Natives' Benefit. 
   
   
 We Could Not See At First Which Way He Was Staring Through The 
 Darkness.  It Was More Than Two Minutes Before I Knew What Had Alarmed 
 Him, And Then It Was Sound, Not Sight That Gave Me The First Clue. 
 There Came A Purring From The Lake;  And When I Had Searched for A 
 Minute For The Source Of It I Saw The Glow We Had Watched from The Dhow 
 In The Storm The First Night Out--The Telltale Crimson Stain On The 
 Dark That Rides Above A Steamer'S Funnel, And At Intervals A Stream Of 
 Sparks To Prove They Were Burning Wood And Driving Her At Top Speed. 
   
   
 "It Can'T Be The German Launch," Said I. 
   
   
 "Why Not?" Demanded fred irritably.  He Knew I Knew It Was The German 
 Launch As Certainly As He Did. 
   
   
 "How Can They Have Patched her Boiler?" I Asked. 
   
   
 "How Many Beans Make Five?  They'Ve Done It, And There She Goes!  No 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 328 
 Other Launch On The Lake Can Make That Speed!  I'Ve Heard The British 
 Railway People Have A Launch Or Two, But They'Re Small Enough To Have 
 Traveled down The Line On Ordinary Trucks.  That'S The German Launch 
 And Schillingschen As Surely As We Stand Here!" 
   
   
 We Waited there Until Dawn, Arguing at Intervals, Not Daring To Light A 
 Fire, Nor Caring To Sleep, Coutlass Sitting apart And Laughing Every 
 Now And Then Like A Hyena. 
   
   
 "If The Men Weren'T So Dead Beat I'D Be For Carrying On, Said Fred. 
   
   
 "What'S The Use?" Argued brown.  "We Can'T Catch The Bally Launch, Can 
 We?  Soon As It'S Daylight They'D See Us, Like As Not.  I Hope To Get 
 Drunk Once More Before I Die!  Schillingschen 'Ud Run Us Down, An' 
 Good-By Us!" 
   
   
 "I'D Say Follow Them If The Men Could Make It," Will Agreed.  "But 
 What'S The Odds?  It'S Us They'Re After.  They'Ll Dare Do Nothing To 
 The Women On The Dhow--In British Waters." 
   
   
 "That'S So," I Agreed, Not Believing a Word Of It, Any More Than They. 
 One Had To Calm One'S Feelings Somehow;  The Men Were Too Weary To 
 Drive The Canoes Another Mile At Anything Like Speed.  Coutlass, Who 
 Had Heard Every Word Of The Argument, Burst Out Into Such Yells Of 
 Laughter That Fred threw A Rock At Him.  "Curse You, You Ghoul!" 
   
   
 Coutlass Changed his Tone From Demoniacal Delight To Quieter, Grim 
 Amusement. 
   
   
 "They Will Do Nothing, Eh?  It Is I, Georges Coutlass, Who Need do 
 Nothing!  I Have My Revenge By Proxy!  Wait And See!" 
   
   
 Fred threw A Second Rock, And Hit Him Squarely. 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!" Swore The Greek.  "Do You Know That Rock Is Harder 
 Than A Man'S Head?" 
   
   
 Fred let The Boys Light A Fire When The Sun Had Risen High Enough To 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 329 
 Make The Little Blaze Not Noticeable.  Most Of The Men Were Asleep, But 
 Though Our Eyes Ached with The Long Vigil We Could Not Have Copied 
 Them.  About Three Hours After Daylight We Breakfasted off Slices Of 
 Hot Boiled hippo Tongue And Cold Lake Water, Without Salt Or Condiments 
 Of Any Kind, And With Discontent Increased by That Unpleasing Feast We 
 Aroused the Boys And Drove Them Into The Canoes. 
   
   
 We Forced the Pace Again, And Picked up Smoke On The Sky-Line An Hour 
 Before Noon, But It Was Not From A Steamer'S Funnel.  It Was Lazy, 
 Flat-Flowing, Spreading Smoke With A Look Of Iniquity About It That 
 Sent Our Hearts To Our Mouths.  We Paddled toward It With Frenzied 
 Energy, And Long Before Any Of Us Could Make Out Details Coutlass, 
 Standing Balancing Himself Amidships, Told Us What We Knew Was True And 
 Flatly Refused to Believe. 
   
   
 "It'S The Queen Of Sheba Burning To The Water-Line!" 
   
   
   
 "Sit Down, You Fool, Or You'Ll Upset Us!" 
   
   
 "She'S Gutted already--The Flame Is About Finished! Nothing Now But 
 Smoke!" 
   
   
 "Sit Down, You Lying Idiot, And Hold Your Tongue!" 
   
   
 "I Can See The Smoke Of The German Launch Now!  Don'T You All See It? 
 Straight Ahead Beyond The Smoke Of The Dhow!  They'Ve Burned the Dhow 
 And Steamed away!  I'Ll Bet You A Million Pounds They'Ve Killed 
 Everybody--Shot 'Em, Or Burned 'Em Alive, Or Drowned 'Em!" 
   
   
 "Did You Hear Me Tell You To Sit Down?  I'Ll Tip You Overboard And Make 
 You Swim For Shore--D'Ye See Those Crocodiles?  Ugh!  Look At The 
 Brutes!  In you Go Among The Crocks If You Don'T Sit Down At Once!" 
   
   
 Coutlass Took No Notice Of The Threat, But Rocked the Canoe Recklessly 
 As He Stood On Tiptoe. 
   
   
 "Think Of Their Gall!  By Bacchus, They'Re Steaming For British East! 
 I Bet You Five Million Pounds To A Kick They Think They'Ve Drowned the 
 Lot Of Us!  They'Re Going To Steam In and Report The Accident!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 330 
 We Got Him To Sit Down At Last By Ordering The Paddlers Nearest Him To 
 Throw Him Overboard, But Nothing Would Stop His Evil Croaking any More 
 Than Flat Refusal To Admit The Truth Of What He Gloated over Lessened 
 Our Real Conviction. 
   
   
 Long Before We Reached the Dhow There Was No Room Left For Unbelief. 
 The Stern Planks Were Charred, But Stood Erect, Unburned yet, And The 
 Blue And White Paint Smeared on Them Was Surely That Of The Queen Of 
 Sheba.  When We Came Within Fifty Yards The Water Was Full Of Loathsome 
 Reptiles;  Our Paddles Actually Struck Them As They Swarmed after The 
 Prey, Snapping at One Another And At Our Canoes--Long, Slimy-Looking 
 Monsters, As Able To Smell Carrion In the Distance As Kites Are To See. 
   
   
 There Were Garments On The Water--Blankets--And One Soaked, Torn, Lacy 
 Thing That Certainly Had Been A Woman'S.  More Than A Dozen Crocodiles 
 Fought Around That.  We Tried to Go Close Enough To See Whether There 
 Were Dead Bodies In the Dhow'S Charred hull, But As If The Very Ripple 
 From Our Paddles Were The Last Straw, The Wreck Dipped suddenly Ten 
 Feet From Us And Plunged, The Crocodiles Following It Down Into Deep 
 Water With Lashing Tails--Swifter Than Fish. 
   
   
 We Paddled about For An Hour In the Blistering Sun, Searching Stupidly 
 For What We Knew We Could Never Find;  Crocodiles Remove Traces Of 
 Identity More Swiftly Than Kites And Crows. 
   
   
 "I'Ll Bet You They Thought We Were On Board!" Gleed coutlass.  "I'Ll 
 Bet You They Opened fire, And When We Didn'T Answer Came To The 
 Conclusion We Had No Ammunition.  Then They Steamed close Enough To 
 Throw Kerosene On Board And Light It!  I Bet You They Steamed round And 
 Round And Watched the People Jump As The Flames Drove Them Overboard! 
 Or D'You Think They Shot Them All, And Then Threw Them Overboard And 
 Fired the Dhow?  No--Then They'D Have Known We Weren'T On The Dhow; 
 They'D Have Steamed back Then To Find Us;  They Thought We Were In the 
 Dhow!"  They Thought We Were Hiding Below Deck!  They'Re Going To 
 British East To Take Their Bible Oaths They Saw Us Burn And Drown! 
 Isn'T That A Joke!  Isn'T That A Good One!  Gassharamminy!  But I'D 
 Give My Hope Of Heaven To Know Whether They Shot The Women First Or 
 Watched them Jump Among The Crocodiles When The Heat Grew Fierce!" 
   
   
 We Paddled to Another Rocky Island--One That Had Trees On It, And 
 Rested through The Heat Of The Day When We Had Killed all The Snakes 
 That Had Forestalled us In the Shade.  There, After Again Eating 
 Hippo-Tongue Unseasoned and Ungarnished, We Held A Council Of War, And 
 Fred produced the Map That Rebecca Stole From Coutlass. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 331 
 "If We Make For A Township Now--Kisumu Is The Nearest--About Five And 
 Twenty Miles Away," Said Fred, "We Can Give Ourselves The Pleasure Of 
 Surprising Schillingschen, And Of Course We Can Get A Square Meal And 
 Some Clothes And Soap And So On--Incidentally Perhaps Some Rifles And 
 Ammunition.  But We Can'T Prove A Thing against Schillingschen, And He 
 Has Enough Pull With British Officials To Make Things Deuced unpleasant 
 For Us, For A Time At Least.  Consider The Other Side Of It.  Suppose 
 We Don'T Make For A Station.  Schillingschen Reports Us Dead.  Nobody 
 Looks For Us--Unless Perhaps Out On The Lake For A Hat Or Some Scrap Of 
 Clothing By Way Of Corroborative Evidence.  Suppose We Paddle Out Of 
 This Gulf And Take To Shore Somewhere Along The North End Of The Lake. 
 We'Ve No Food, No Tents, Only One Gun, Next To No Ammunition, Nothing 
 But Money And A Purpose.  We Don'T Know What Chance We Have Of Getting 
 Supplies, And Particularly Rifles, Without Letting any One Know Where 
 We Are, But We Do Know We'Ve A Clear Field And A Straight Mark For 
 Elgon, Where Rumor Says--And Courtney Said--And Schillingschen 
 Thinks--And This Map Says The Ivory Ought To Be!  The Odds Are Against 
 Us--Climate --Starvation--Wild Beasts--Savages--Last And Not Least, The 
 Government, If They Ever Get Wind Of Our Being Beyond Bounds.  Are We 
 Willing To Take The Chance, Or Are We Not?" 
   
   
 We Talked it Over For An Hour, Coutlass Listening all Ears To Most Of 
 What We Said, Although We Drove Him To The Farthest Limit Of The Shade 
 Trees.  We Were In two Minds Whether Or Not It Mattered if He Listened, 
 And Made The Usual Two-Minds Hash Of It.  Finally We Put It To A Vote, 
 Letting Brown Have A Voice With The Rest Of Us.  He Was In favor Of 
 Anything That Offered prospect Of A Gamble;  And We Remembered the 
 Letter In code We Had Given The Missionary To Mail To Monty. We Had 
 Told Him In that That We Should Make Tracks For Elgon, And We All Voted 
 The Same Way. 
   
   
 "In Other Words" Grinned fred, "We'Re Perfect Idiots, And Ready And 
 Willing To Prove It!  Good!  If You Fellows Had Voted the Other Way I'D 
 Have Gone Forward To Elgon Alone!" 
   
   
 It Was Then That Georges Coutlass Took A Hand In the Game Again.  He 
 Came Striding Through The Trees With Something Of His Old Swagger, And 
 Sat Down Among Us With An Air. 
   
   
 "Count Me In!" He Demanded. 
   
   
 "D'You Mean In the Lake?" Suggested fred. 
   
   
 "In On The Trip To Mount Elgon!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 332 
 "We'Ve Had Nearly Enough Of You!" Fred answered.  "I Know What'S 
 Coming!  If You Don'T Come With Us You'Ll Tell Tales?  Blackmail, Eh? 
 Well, It Won'T Work!  We'Ll Set You Ashore On The Mainland, And If You 
 Dare Show Yourself To Schillingschen Or Any British Official, We'Ll Run 
 That Risk Cheerfully!" 
   
   
 But Coutlass Was Imperturbable For Once.  He Laid A Hand On Fred'S 
 Knee, And Changed his Tone To One Of Gentle Persuasion Between Friend 
 And Friend. 
   
   
 "Ah! Mr. Oakes,  I Know You Now Too Well!  You Are Not The Man To Leave 
 Me In the Lurch!  These Others Perhaps!  You Never!  You Know Me, Too. 
 You Have Seen Me Under All Conditions.  You Are Able To Judge My 
 Character.  You Know How Firm A Friend I Can Be, As Well As How Savage 
 An Enemy!  You Know I Would Never Be False To A Friend Such As You--To 
 A Man Whom I Admire As I Do You!" 
   
   
 Will Yerkes, Who Had Tried to Keep A Straight Face, Now Went Off Into 
 Peals Of Laughter, Rolling Over On His Back And Rocking His Legs In the 
 Air--A Performance That Did Not Appear To Discourage Coutlass In the 
 Least.  Brown Was Far From Amused.  He Advised throwing The Greek Into 
 The Lake. 
   
   
 "Remember Those Cattle O' Mine!" He Insisted. 
   
   
 "Yes!" Agreed coutlass.  "Remember Those Cattle!  Consider What A Man 
 Of Quick Decision And Courage I Am!  How Useful I Can Be!  What A 
 Forager!  What A Guide!  What A Fighting Man!  What A Hunter!  What A 
 Liar On Behalf Of My Friends!  What A Danger For My Friends' Enemies! 
 What Are The Cattle Of A Drunkard Like Brown--The Poor Unhappy 
 Sot!--Compared to The Momentary Needs Of A Gentleman!  Ah! By The 
 Ordeal!  I Am A Gentleman, And That Is The Secret Of It All!  You, Mr. 
 Oakes, As One Brave Gentleman, Can Not Despise The Right Hand Of 
 Friendship Of Georges Coutlass, Another Gentleman!  I Know You Can Not! 
  You Haven'T It In you!  You Were Born Under Another Star Than That!  I 
 Have Confidence!  I Sit Contented!" 
   
   
 "You Good-For-Nothing Villain!" Fred grinned.  "I'Ll Take You At Your 
 Word!" And Brown Of Lumbwa Gasped, The Very Hairs Of His Red beard 
 Bristling. 
   
   
 "I Knew You Would!" Said Coutlass Calmly.  "These Others Are Not 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 333 
 Gentlemen.  They Do Not Understand." 
   
   
 "If Your Word Is Good For Anything," Fred continued. 
   
   
 "My Word Is My Bond!" Said The Greek. 
   
   
 "And You Really Want To Prove Yourself My Friend--" 
   
   
 "I Would Go To Hell For You And Bring You Back The Devil'S Favorite 
 Wife!" 
   
   
 "I Will Set You On The Mainland, To Go And Recover Those Cattle Of Mr. 
 Brown'S From The Masai Who Raided them!  Return Them To Lumbwa, And 
 I'Ll Guarantee Brown Shall Shake Hands With You!" 
   
   
 "Pah! Brown! That Drunkard!" 
   
   
 "See Here!" Said Brown, Getting Up And Peeling Off His Coat.  "I'Ve Had 
 Enough Of Being Called drunkard By You.  Put Up Your Dukes!" 
   
   
 But A Fight Between Brown And The Greek With Bare Fists Would Have Been 
 Little Short Of Murder.  Brown Was In no Condition To Thrash That Wiry 
 Customer, And We In no Mood To See Coutlass Get The Better Of Him. 
   
   
 "Don'T Be A Fool, Brown! Sit Down!" Ordered fred, And Having Saved his 
 Face Brown Condescended readily Enough. 
   
   
 "What You Said'S Right," He Admitted.  "Let Him Get My Cattle Back 
 Afore He'S Fit To Fight A Gentleman!" 
   
   
 And So The Matter Was Left For The Present, With Georges Coutlass Under 
 Sentence Of Abandonment To His Own Devices As Soon As We Could Do That 
 Without Entailing His Starvation.  We Had No Right To Have Pity For The 
 Rascal;  He Had No Claim Whatever On Our Generosity;  Yet I Think Even 
 Brown Would Not Have Consented to Deserting Him On Any Of Those Barren 
 Islands, Whatever The Risk Of His Spoiling Our Plans As Soon As We 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 334 
 Should Let Him Out Of Sight. 
   
   
 >From Then Until We Beached the Canoes At Last In a Gap In the Papyrus 
 On The Lake'S Northern Shore, We Pressed forward Like Hunted men.  For 
 One Thing, The Very Thought Of Boiled meat Without Bread, Salt, Or 
 Vegetables Grew Detestable Even To The Natives After The Second Or 
 Third Meal, Although Hippo Tongue Is Good Food.  We Tried green Stuff 
 Gathered on The Islands, But It Proved either Bitter Or Else 
 Nauseating, And Although Our Boys Gathered bark And Roots That They 
 Said Were Fit For Food, It Was Noticeable That They Did Not Eat Much Of 
 It Themselves.  The Simplest Course Was To Race For The Shore With As 
 Little Rest And As Little Sleep As The Men Could Do With. 
   
   
 However, We Were Not Noticeably Better Off When We First Set Foot On 
 Shore.  There Was Nothing But Short Grass Growing On The Thin Soil That 
 Only Partly Hid The Volcanic Rock And Manganese Iron Ore.  Victoria 
 Nyanza Is The Crater Of A Once Enormous, Long Ago Extinct Volcano, And 
 We Stood On A Shelf Of Rock About A Thousand Feet Below What Had Been 
 The Upper Rim--A Chain Of Mountains Leading away Toward The North 
 Higher And Higher, Until They Culminated in mount Elgon, Another 
 Extinct Volcano Fourteen Thousand Feet Above Sea Level. 
   
   
 It Was Not Unexplored land Where We Stood, But It Was So Little Known 
 That The Existence Of White Men Was Said To Be A Matter Of Some Doubt 
 Among Natives A Mile Or Two To Either Side Of The Old Safari Route That 
 Passed from East To West.  We Could See No Villages, Although We 
 Marched for Hours, The Loaned canoe-Men Tagging along Behind Us, 
 Hungrier Than We, Until At Last Over The Back Of A Long Low Spur We 
 Spied the, Tops Of Growing Kaffir Corn. 
   
   
 At Sight Of That We Broke Into A Run And Burst On The Field Of Grain 
 Like A Pack Of The Dog-Baboons That Swoop From The Hills And Make 
 Havoc.  We Seized the Heads Of Grain, Rubbed them Between Our Hands, 
 And Had Munched our Fill Before We Were Seen By The Jealous Owners.  A 
 Small Boy Herding Hump-Backed cattle Down In the Valley Watched us For 
 A Minute, And Then Deserted his Charge To Report To The Village Hidden 
 Behind A Clump Of Trees.  Ten Minutes After That We Were Surrounded by 
 Naked black Giants, All Armed with Spears And A Personal Smell That 
 Outstank One'S Notions Of Gehenna. 
   
   
 We Had Nothing To Offer Them, Except Money, For Which They Obviously 
 Had Not The Slightest Use.  None Of Us Knew Their Language.  From Their 
 Point Of View We Were Thieves Taken In the Act, All But One Of Us 
 Unarmed as Far As They Knew, To Be Judged by The Tribal Standard That 
 For More Centuries Than Men Remember Has Decreed that The Thief Shall 
 Die.  They Were Most Incensed at The Four Unhappy Islanders, Probably 
 On The Same Principle That Dogs Pick On The Weakest, And Fight Most 
 Readily With Dogs Of A More Or Less Similar Breed. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 335 
 It Was Coutlass Who Saved that Situation.  He Instantly Went Crazy, Or 
 The Next Thing To It, Wrinkling Up His Black-Whiskered face Into A 
 Caricature, Yelling a Greek Monologue In a Refrain Consisting Of Five 
 Notes Repeated over And Over, And Dancing around In a Wide Ring With 
 One Leg Shorter Than The Other And His Arms Executing Symbols Of 
 Witchcraft. 
   
   
 The Chief Was The Biggest Man--Not An Inch Less Than Seven Feet--Black 
 As Ebony, From The Curly Hair, Into Which His Patient Wives Had Plaited 
 Fiber To Hang In a Greasy Lump Over His Neck, All Down His Naked body 
 To The Soles Of His Enormous Feet.  Each Time He Came In front Of That 
 Individual Coutlass Paused and Executed special Finger Movements, Like 
 The Trills Of A Super-Pianist, Ending Invariably In a Punctuation Point 
 That Made The Savage Shiver. 
   
   
 The Fifth Time Round, To Avoid The Accusing Fingers, The Giant Dodged 
 Behind A Smaller Man, Who Dodged behind A Woman, Who Promptly Turned 
 And Ran, Swinging In the Wind Behind Her A Bustle Like A Horse'S Tail 
 That Was Her Only Garment.  Her Flight Was The Touch That Settled the 
 Decision In our Favor.  We All Began To Do A Mumbo-Jumbo Dance Around 
 Coutlass, And In five Seconds More The Whole Armed party Was In full 
 Retreat, Holding Their Spears Behind Them As Some Sort Of Protection 
 Against Magic. 
   
   
 "After That," Said Coutlass Proudly, "Will You Still Dismiss Me From 
 Your Party, Gentlemen?" 
   
   
   
 "You'Ve Got To Go And Find Brown'S Cattle And Return Them To Him!" Fred 
 Answered firmly.  But We None Of Us Felt Like Sending Him Packing Until 
 He Was Better Fed and Some Provision Could Be Made For His Safety On 
 The Road.  It Was Wonderful, The Number Of Excuses That Flocked through 
 My Mind For Befriending The Ruffian, And Later On I Found It Was The 
 Same With Fred and Will.  Brown, On The Other Hand, Affected 
 Indignation At His Being allowed to Go With Us Another Yard. 
   
   
 "Make A Rope O' Grass An' Hang The Swine!" He Grumbled. 
   
   
 We Decided to March On The Village, Retreat Being Obviously Far Too 
 Dangerous, And The Only Likely Safe Course Being To Follow Up The 
 Chance Success.  Sleep Another Night In the Open Among The Mosquitoes 
 And Wild Beasts, Besides Making Us Wretched at The Mere Suggestion, Was 
 Likely To Bring Us All Down With Fever.  We Preferred the Thought Of 
 Fever To The Loneliness;  For Man Is Unlike All Other Nomads, And That 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 336 
 Is Why The Dog Takes Kindly To Him;  He Must Have A Home Of His Own--A 
 Portable One, If You Will--A Tub Like Diogenes--A Bedouin'S Tent--A 
 Cave, Or A Hole In the Ground--Something, So Be He May Rent It Or Own 
 It Or Know For A Fact He May Sleep There When Night Comes.  Life In the 
 Open Is Only Good Fun When There Is Cover To Take To At Will. 
   
   
 All The Way Along The Winding Foot-Track Leading In every Imaginable 
 Direction Except Toward The Village, And Only Turning Suddenly Toward 
 It When We Had Grown Disgusted and Decided to Leave It And Try To Find 
 Another, Brown Kept Pointing Out Trees With Suitable Overhanging arms 
 To Which We Might Hang Coutlass.  The Greek, With Eyes For Nothing But 
 The Fat, Hump-Backed village Cattle In the Distance, Seemed to Think 
 Only Of Them, Until Will Commented on The Fact, And Fred saw Fit To 
 Drop A Hint. 
   
   
 "Steal As Much As A Young Calf, Coutlass, And We'Ll Let Brown Choose 
 The Tree!  Try It On If You Don'T Believe Me!" 
   
   
 The Villagers Closed their Gate Against Us By Dragging Great Piles Of 
 Thorn Across The Gap In the Rough Palisade, But, As Coutlass Pointed 
 Out, They Would Have To Open It Up Again To Let The Cattle In before 
 Dark, So We Sat Down And Ate The Remaining Fragments Of The Hippo 
 Tongue--No Ambrosia By That Time;  It Had To Be Eaten, To Save It From 
 Utter Waste! 
   
   
 Then Coutlass Once More Did A First-Class Devil Dance Backward And 
 Forward This Time Before The Gate, Putting Genius Into It And Fear Into 
 The Hearts Of The Defenders.  Kazimoto Helped even More Than He By 
 Discovering a Native Within The Palisade Who Could Speak A Common 
 Tongue. 
   
   
 Their Villagers Held A Very Noisy Council On Their Side Of The Thorn 
 Obstruction, Under The Apparent Impression That It Was Sound- And 
 Bullet-Proof.  It Was Beginning To Be Pretty Obvious That A Man Who 
 Advised volleying Through The Crevices With Spears Was Winning The 
 Argument When Kazimoto Detected familiar Accents And Raised his Voice. 
 After That The Barricade Was Dragged aside Within Ten Minutes And We 
 Entered, If Not In honor, At Least In temporary Safety. 
   
   
 Luxury Is A Question Of Contrast.  That Evening In a Hut Assigned to Us 
 By The Chief, Squatting On The Trodden Cow-Dung Floor, Leaning against 
 The Dried-Mud Sides, With A Little Fire Of Sticks In the Midst To Give 
 Us Light And Keep Mosquitoes At A Distance At The Expense Of Almost 
 Unbearable Heat, We Ate Porridge Made From Mtama As They Call Their 
 Kaffir Corn, And Washed it Down With Milk--Good Rich Cows' Milk, Milked 
 By Kazimoto Into Our Own Metal Pot Instead Of Their Unwashed gourds. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 337 
 Lucullus Never Dined better. 
   
   
 The Feast Was Only Rather Spoiled by Two Things:  We All Had Chiggers 
 In Our Feet--The Minute Fleas That Haunt The Dust Of Native Villages 
 And Insert Themselves Under Toe-Nails To Grow Great And Lay Their Eggs. 
  (Nearly Every Native In the Village Had More Than One Toe Missing.) 
 And The Chief Felt Obliged to Insert His Smelly Presence Among Us And 
 Ask Innumerable Idiotic Questions Through The Medium Of His Interpreter 
 And Kazimoto.  He Received some Astonishing answers, But Would Not Have 
 Been Satisfied with Anything More Reasonable.  We Wanted him Satisfied, 
 And Gave Our Interpreter Free Rein. 
   
   
 The Main Trouble Was We Had Nothing Of Value To Offer Him.  Money Was 
 Something He Had No Knowledge Of.  He Wanted beads Of A Certain Size 
 And Color;  For Two Handfuls Of Them He Expressed himself Willing To Be 
 Our Friend For Life.  We Had To Educate Him About Money, And Kazimoto 
 Assured him That The Silver Rupees Fred produced from A Bag Were So 
 Precious That Governments Went To War To Get Them Away From Other 
 Governments. 
   
   
 But The Impression Still Prevailed that We Were Wasikini--Poor Men; 
 And That Is A Fatal Qualification In the Savage Mind. 
   
   
 "Why Have You Only One Gun?" 
   
   
 In Vain Kazimoto Assured him That We Had Dozens Of Guns "At Home"--That 
 Fred'S Landed possessions Were So Vast That Two Hundred strong Men 
 Walking For A Month Would Be Unable To March Across Them--That Fred'S 
 Wives (Fred seemed to Live Under A Cloud Of Sexual Scandal In those 
 Days) Were So Many In number They Had To Be Counted twice A Day To Make 
 Sure None Was Missing. 
   
   
 The Chief Had Eighteen Wives Of His Own To Show.  He Could Prove His 
 Matrimonial Felicity.  Why Had Fred left His Behind?  How Did He Dare? 
 Who Looked after Them?  Had He Left The Guns Behind To Guard The Women? 
  Why Did Such A Rich Man Travel Without Food For His Men?  The Chief 
 Had Seen Us With His Own Eyes Devour Porridge As If We Were Starving. 
   
   
 To Have Told Him The Truth Would Have Been Worse Than Useless.  To Have 
 Mentioned such A Thing as Shipwreck Would Only Have Stirred the Savage 
 Instinct To Prey Off All Unfortunates.  Failing Evidence Of Wealth In 
 Our Possession, The Only Feasible Plan Was To Claim So Much That He 
 Might Believe Some Of It, And It Was Coutlass, Drawing a Bow At A 
 Venture, Who Ordered kazimoto To Tell Him That We Expected a Party In a 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 338 
 Few Days Bringing Tents, Provisions And More Guns. 
   
   
 "There Will Be Blue-And-White Beads Of The Sort You Long For Among 
 Those Loads," Added kazimoto On His Own Account;  And That Eased the 
 Chief'S Mind For The Night.  Fred gave Him A Half-Rupee, And Promised 
 Him To Exchange It When The Loads Should Come For As Many Of The Beads 
 As He Could Seize In his Two Fists.  The Chief Went Out To Brag To The 
 Village, Opening and Closing His Fists To See How Huge Their Compass 
 Was;  And Later That Night His Wives Had To Be Beaten For Fighting. 
 They Were Jealous Because The Fattest And The Youngest New One Had Both 
 Been Promised double Shares. 
   
   
 There Was Another Fight Because Our Porters Emerged from Their Hut And 
 Demanded that A Barren Cow Out Of The Village Herd Be Butchered.  They 
 Made Their Meaning Perfectly Clear By Taking The Cow By The Horns And 
 Tail And Throwing Her On Her Back.  Fred decided that Argument With A 
 Thick Stick About Four Feet Long. 
   
   
 The Unusual Spectacle Of Some One Taking Sides Against His Own Men, 
 Whatever The Rights Or Wrongs Of It, So Affected the Chief That He 
 Entered our Hut Next Morning Disposed to Hold Us Up For Double Promises 
 Of Beads.  It Was Evident We Had To Deal With A Born Extortioner.  He 
 Would Increase His Demands With Every Fresh Concession. 
   
   
 "Oh, What'S The Odds!" Laughed coutlass.  "Promise Him Anything!  The 
 Only Loads Likely To Come Along This Way For A Year Or Two Are 
 Schillingschen'S!" 
   
   
 Fred told The Chief He Would Think The Matter Over, And Chased him Out 
 Of The Hut.  Coutlass Had Given Us All A New Idea In an Instant, And He 
 Was The Only One Who Did Not See Its Point--He, The Only One Who Did 
 Not Give A Snap Of The Fingers For The Laws Of Any Land! 
   
   
 "D'You Suppose--" 
   
   
 "Too Good To Hope For!" 
   
   
 "If He Thinks We'Re Dead--?" 
   
   
 "And If He Believes In that Map--" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 339 
 "He'Ll Not Need the Map.  He'Ll Have Memorized it.  There'S Only A 
 Circle Drawn On It To Mark The Elgon District.  All The Old Pencil 
 Marks Have Been Rubbed out As He Searched the Other Likely Places And 
 Drew Them All Blank." 
   
   
 "He'Ll Travel Without Military Escort?" 
   
   
 "Sure!  He Won'T Want Witnesses!  He'Ll Make Believe It'S A Scientific 
 Trip.  Remember, He'S A Professor Of Ethnology.  That'S How He Puts It 
 All Over The British And Goes Where He Pleases Without As Much As 
 By-Your-Leave." 
   
   
 "Say, Fellows!  It'S A Moral Cinch That When We Broke Away From Muanza 
 He Made Up His Mind In a Flash To Return To British East And Destroy Us 
 On The Way.  He Thinks He Made A Clean Job Of That.  I'Ll Bet He Loaded 
 The Launch Down With Stuff For A Long Safari, And Thinks Now He Has A 
 Clear Run And Can Take His Time!" 
   
   
 "If That'S How The Cards Lie, The Game'S Ours!" 
   
   
 Coutlass Saw The Point At Last And Offered himself On The Altar Of 
 Forgiveness And Friendship. 
   
   
 "Make Me Your Partner, Gentlemen, And If He Travels Within A Hundred 
 Miles Of This I Will Crawl Into That Schillingschen'S Tent In the Night 
 And Slit His Throat!  I Would Murder Him As Willingly As I Eat When I 
 Am Hungry!" 
   
   
 "Your Job Has Been Assigned you!" Answered fred. "When Mr. Brown'S 
 Cattle Are Back In lumbwa Perhaps We'Ll Give You Something Else To Do!" 
   
   
 Nevertheless, Coutlass Had Outlined in a Flash The Limits Of The Plan. 
 We Would Draw The Line At Murdering Even Schillingschen, But Must Help 
 Ourselves To His Outfit As Our Only Chance Of Re-Outfitting Without 
 Betraying Our Presence In british East.  But The Plan Was Not Without 
 Rat-Holes In it That A Fool Could See. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 340 
 "Schillingschen'S Boys Will Escape And Run To The Nearest British 
 Official With The Story!" 
   
   
 "And The British Official Will Be So Full Of The Importance Of 
 Schillingschen And The Need of Protecting His Beastly Carcass--To Say 
 Nothing Of The Everlasting Disgrace Of Letting Him Be Scoughed on 
 British Territory--And The Official Reprimand From Home That'S Sure To 
 Follow--That He'Ll Come Hot-Foot To Investigate!" 
   
   
 "We'Ll Have To Provide Against That," Said Fred, And We All Laughed, 
 Including Coutlass.  Talk Of Provisions Is Easy When You Have No Means 
 Out Of Which To Provide.  It Did Not Occur To Include Coutlass In the 
 Calculations, Or To Dismiss Him From Them;  But Without Exchanging any 
 Remarks On The Subject It Was Clear Enough To All Of Us That No Such 
 Plan Could Hope To Succeed with The Greek At Large, At Liberty To Spoil 
 It.  We Saw We Should Have To Keep Him In our Party For The Present. 
   
   
 "Don'T Forget," Said Coutlass, More Accustomed than We To Seizing The 
 Strategic Points Of Desperate Situations, "That Schillingschen Will 
 Have His Own Boys With Him From German East." 
   
   
 "I Didn'T See Any With Him On The Launch," I Objected. 
   
   
 "He Would Never Have Come Without Them" Coutlass Insisted.  "He Made 
 Them Lie Below The Water-Line Out Of Reach Of Bullets At The Only Time 
 When You Might Have Seen Them!  He Wouldn'T Trust Himself To British 
 Porters.  My Word, No!  That Devil Knows Natives!  He Knows Some Of 
 Them Might Be British Government Spies!  He'Ll Have His Own Boys,--If 
 They Can'T Carry All His Loads He'Ll Buy Donkeys At Mumias;  There Are 
 Always Donkeys To Be Bought At That Place, Brought Down From Turkana By 
 The Arab Ivory Traders.  Do Donkeys Talk?" 
   
   
 At Any Rate, We Talked, And Made No Bones At All About Including 
 Georges Coutlass In the Conversation.  It Was His Suggestion That We 
 Should Send Natives To Look Out For Schillingschen, And Fred'S 
 Amendment That Reduced the Messengers To One, And That One Kazimoto. 
 Any Of The Others Might Decide To Desert, Once Out Of Sight, And We 
 Could Scarcely Have Blamed them, For Their Path Had Not Lain Among 
 Roses In our Company. 
   
   
 Kazimoto Had A Million Objections To Offer Against Going alone On That 
 Errand, As, For Instance, That The Chigger Fleas Would Invade Our 
 Toe-Nails Disastrously Without His Cunning Fingers To Hunt Them Out 
 Again.  He Also Prophesied that Without Him To Interpret There Would 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 341 
 Swiftly Be Trouble Between Us And The Chief;  But We Saw The Other Side 
 Of That Medal And Rather Looked forward To An Interval When The Chief 
 Should Not Be Able To Talk To Us At All. 
   
   
 At Last, On The Second Morning after Our Arrival At The Village, 
 Kazimoto Wrapped an Enormous Mound Of Cold Mtama Pudding In a Cloth And 
 Went His Way, Prophesying Darkly Of Murder And Sudden Death Lurking 
 Behind Rocks And Trees, As Unwishful To Be Alone As A Terrier Without A 
 Master, But Much Too Faithful To Refuse Duty. 
   
   
 The Chief Saw A Side Of The Medal That We Had Not Guessed existed.  He 
 Came And Sat Beside Us Like An Evil-Smelling Shadow, Satisfied that Now 
 We Could Not Dismiss Him, He Being Under No Obligation To Understand 
 Gestures.  Curiosity Was The Impelling Motive, But He Was Not Without 
 Suspicion.  Fred said He Reminded him Of A Bloomsbury Landlady Whose 
 Lodgers Had Not Paid Their Board And Rooming In advance. 
   
   
 Will Solved that Problem By Taking The Rifle, And One Cartridge That 
 Fred doled out Grudgingly, And After A Long Day'S Stalking among 
 Mosquitoes In the Papyrus At The Edge Of The Lake Five Miles Away, At 
 Imminent Risk Of Crocodiles And An Even Worse Horror We Had Not Yet 
 Suspected, Shooting a Hippopotamus.  Forthwith The Whole Village, Chief 
 Included, Went To Cut Up And Carry Off The Meat, And There Followed 
 Revelry By Night, The Chiefs Wives Brewing Beer From The Mtama, And All 
 Getting Drunk As Well As Gorged.  Coutlass And Brown Got More Drunk 
 Than Any One. 
   
   
 Will Came Back With Flies On His Coat--Three Large Things Like 
 Horse-Flies, That Crossed their Wings In repose, Resembling In all 
 Other Respects The Common Tetse Fly.  He Said The Reeds By The 
 Lake-Side Were Full Of Them. 
   
   
 Remembering Tales About Sleeping Sickness, And Suspicion Of Conveying 
 It Said To Rest On A Tetse Fly That Crossed its Wings, I Went Out The 
 Following Day And Walked many Miles East-Ward, Taking With Me The Only 
 Two Sober Villagers I Could Find.  They Came Willingly Enough For Five 
 Miles, Thinking, I Suppose, That I Intended to Follow Will'S Example 
 And Kill Some More Meat (Although, As I Did Not Take The Rifle With Me, 
 They Were Not Guilty Of Much Dead-Weight Reasoning). 
   
   
 At The Bank Of The Fifth Stream We Came To They Stopped, And Refused to 
 Go Another Yard.  Thinking They Were Merely Lusting after The Meat And 
 Beer In the Village, I Took A Stick To Drive Them Across The Stream In 
 Front Of Me, But They Dodged in terror And Ran Back Home As If The 
 Devil Had Been After Them. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 12 ("Many That Are First Shall Be Last; And The Last First'-') Pg 342 
 I Crossed the Stream And Continued forward Alone About Another Mile 
 Toward A Fairly Large Village Visible Between Great Blue Boulders With 
 Cactus Dotted all About.  There Was The Usual Herd Of Cattle Grazing 
 Near At Hand, But The Place Had An Unaccountable Forlorn Look, And The 
 Small Boy Standing On An Ant-Hill To Watch The Cattle Seemed too 
 Listless To Be Curious, And Too Indifferent To Run Away.  The Big Brown 
 Tetse Flies, That Crossed their Wings When Resting, Were Everywhere, 
 Making No Noise At All, But Announcing Themselves Every Once In a While 
 By A Bite On The Back Of The Hand That Stung Like A Whip-Lash.  They 
 Seemed to Have Special Liking For Coat-Sleeves, And A Dozen Of Them 
 Were Generally Riding On Each Side Of Me.  One Could Drive Them Off, 
 But They Came Back At Once, As Horse-Flies Do When Poked off With A 
 Whip. 
   
   
 When I Drew Near The Village Nobody Came Out To Look At Me, Which Was 
 Suspicious In itself.  Nobody Shouted.  Nobody Blocked the Way, Or 
 Dragged thorn-Bushes Across The Gateway.  There Were Black Men And 
 Women There, Sitting In the Shadows Of The Eaves, Who Looked up And 
 Stared at Me--Men And Women Too Intent On Sitting Still To Care Whether 
 Their Skins Were Glossy--Unoiled, Unwashed, Unfed, By The Look Of 
 Them--Skeletons Clothed in leather And Dust, Desiring Death, But 
 Cruelly Denied it. 
   
   
 One Man, Thin As A Wisp Of Smoke, Rushed at Me From The Shadow Of A Hut 
 Door And Tried to Bite My Leg.  The Merest Push Sent Him Rolling Over, 
 And There He Lay, Too Overcome By Inertia To Move Another Inch, His Arm 
 Uplifted in the Act Of Self-Defense.  Nobody Else In the Village 
 Stirred.  There Were More Huts Than People, More Kites On The Roofs 
 Than Huts.  Some Of The Littlest Children Played in the Hut Doors, But 
 Nearly All Of Them Were Listless Like The Grown Folk.  The Only Sign Of 
 Normal Activity Was The Big Black Earthen Jars That Witnessed that The 
 Women Performed part At Least Of Their Daily Round By Bringing Water 
 From The Lake. 
   
   
 I Returned late That Afternoon, Walking, As It Were, Out Of A Belt Of 
 Tetse Flies.  On One Side Of A Narrow Stream They Were Thick Together; 
 To The West Of It There Were Scarcely Any, Although The Wind Blew From 
 East To West. 
   
   
 "There'S No Fear Of News About Us Reaching any Government Official," I 
 Announced.  "There'S A Curtain Of Death Between Us And The Government 
 That Even Suspicion Couldn'T Penetrate!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 343 
 Ten Were The Plagues That Israel Fled, And Leaving Left No      Cure, 
         Whose Progeny Self-Multiplied a Million-Fold Remain, 
 The Cloak Of Each One Ignorance, Idolatry Its Lure, 
         And Death The Goal Till, Clarion-Called, Lost Israel Come 
 Again. 
 Till Then That Loaded lash That Bade The Tale Of Bricks 
 Increase 
         (Eye For An Eye, And Limb For Limb!) Shall Fail Not     Though 
 Ye Weep; 
 The Conqueror'S Heel For Africa!--The Fear That Shall Not       Cease!-- 
         Desire, Distrust, The Alien Law!--The Sleep That Is No  Sleep! 
   
   
 ------------------ 
 * It Is A Characteristic Of The So-Called sleeping Sickness That Is 
 Decimating The Tribes Around Victoria Nyanza That The Victim, Although 
 He Goes Into A Coma, Never Actually Sleeps From The Time Of Taking The 
 Disease Until The End, Usually More Than A Year Later.  The Natives, A 
 Tribe That Came Originally Down From Egypt, Themselves Say That The 
 Dreaded sickness Is A "Visitation" By Way Of Revenge On Them For Former 
 Sins, Although What Sins, And Whose Vengeance, They Are At A Total Loss 
 To Explain. 
 ------------------ 
   
   
 Kazimoto Was Gone Five Days, And Then Came Preceded by Proof Of The 
 News He Brought.  He Came In the Evening.  In the Morning, 
 Unaccountably From The Northward, Instead Of From The Westward Where 
 Uganda Lay,--Avoiding The Regular Safari Route And The Belt Of Sleeping 
 Sickness Villages, Came A Genial, Sleek, Shiny Baganda, Arrayed in 
 Khaki Coat, Red fez, And Bordered loin-Cloth, Gifted with Tongues, And 
 Self-Confident Beyond Belief. 
   
   
 He Knew Nothing Of Us At First, For We Sat In our Hut With A Smudge 
 Going, Nervous About Flies, Even Coutlass, Reckless As A Rule Of 
 Anything He Could Not See, And Perfectly Indifferent To Death For 
 Others, Now Fidgety And Afraid To Swagger Forth. 
   
   
 One Of Our Nyamwezi Porters Suddenly Made A Great Shout Of "Hodi!"* And 
 Came Stooping Through The Low Door, Standing Erect Again Inside To 
 Await Our Pleasure.  We Could Hear Others Outside, Listening Under The 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 344 
 Eaves.  When We Had Kept Him Waiting Sufficiently Long To Prevent His 
 Getting Too Much Notion Of His Own Importance, Fred nodded to Him To 
 Speak.  [* Hodi! Equivalent To "May I Come In!"] 
   
   
 "Is It True, Bwana," He Asked, "That The Germans Will Come Soon And 
 Conquer This Part Of Africa?" 
   
   
 "Certainly Not!" Said Fred. 
   
   
 "There Is One Out Here, A Baganda, Who Says They Will Surely Come.  He 
 Says The Religion Of Islam Will Be Preached from End To End Of 
 Everywhere, And That The Germans Are The True Priests Of Islam.  They 
 Will Come, Says He, When The Time Is Ripe, And Call On All The Converts 
 Of Islam To Rise And Slay All Other People, Including all White Folk, 
 Like The English, Who Do Not Accept That Creed.  If That Is True, 
 Bwana, Whither Shall We Go, And Whither Shall You Go, To Escape Such 
 Terrible Things?" 
   
   
 "Does The Baganda Know There Are White Men In this Village?" Fred asked. 
   
   
 "Not Yet, Bwana." 
   
   
 "Don'T Tell Him, Then, But Bring Him In here.  Tell Him There Are Folk 
 In Here Who Say He Is A Liar." 
   
   
 The Nyamwezi Backed out, And We Heard Whispering Outside.  There Is 
 Precious Little Performance In africa Without A Deal Of Talk.  At The 
 End Of About Ten Minutes The Porter Again Shouted "Hodi!" And This Time 
 Was Followed in by The Stranger, Seven Other Of Our Own Men, Uninvited, 
 Bringing Up The Rear. 
   
   
 "Jambo!"* Said The Baganda, With A Great Effort At Bravado, When His 
 Eyes Had Grown Accustomed to The Gloom And The First Severe Surprise Of 
 Seeing White Men Had Worn Off.  He Was A Very Cool Customer Indeed.  [* 
 Jambo! Kiswahili Equivalent Of "How D'You Do?"] 
   
   
 "Whose Pimp Are You?" Demanded fred, Without Answering The Salutation. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 345 
 The Man Fell Back On Insolence At Once.  There Is No Native In africa 
 Who Takes More Keenly To That Weapon Than The Mission-Schooled baganda. 
   
   
 "I Am Employed by A Gentleman Of Superior Position," He Answered in 
 Perfectly Good English. 
   
   
 "In What Capacity?" Demanded fred. 
   
   
 "I Am Not Employed to Tell His Secrets To The First Strangers Who Ask 
 Me!" 
   
   
 "Do You Obey Him Implicitly?" 
   
   
 "I Do.  I Am Honorable Person.  I Receive His Pay And Do His Bidding." 
   
   
 "Is His Name Schillingschen?" 
   
   
 The Baganda Hesitated. 
   
   
 "All Right," Said Fred.  "I Know His Name Is Schillingschen.  You Have 
 Boasted that You Do What He Orders You.  These Men Tell Me You Have 
 Said That The Germans Are Coming To Conquer The Country And Destroy All 
 People, Including The English, Who Have Not Accepted islam!" 
   
   
 The Man Hesitated again, Glancing Over His Shoulder To Discover His 
 Retreat Cut Off By Our Porters, And Eying Fred with Malignity That 
 Reminded one Of A Cornered beast Of Prey.  He Could Control His Face, 
 But Not His Eyes. 
   
   
 "Oh, No, Sir!" He Answered after Swallowing a Time Or Two.  "How Could 
 They Tell Such Lies Against Me!  I Am A Person Born In uganda, Now A 
 British Protectorate And Enjoying all Blessings Of British Rule.  I Am 
 Educated at The Mission College At Entebbe.  How Should I Tell Such A 
 Tale Against My Benefactors?" 
   
   
 "That Is What You Are Here To Explain!" Fred answered.  "No!  You Can'T 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 346 
 Escape, You Hellion!  Squat Down And Answer!" 
   
   
 "All This Stuff Is Pretty Familiar," Will Interrupted.  "In The States 
 There Are Always People Going The Rounds Among Our Darkies Preaching 
 Some Form Of Treason.  Over There We Can Afford To Treat It As A 
 Joke--Now And Then An Ugly One, And On The Darkies!" 
   
   
 "This Is An Ugly Joke On A Darkie, Too!" Grinned fred. 
   
   
 The Baganda Made A Sudden Dive And A Determined struggle To Get Through 
 The Door, But Our Porters Were Too Quick And Strong For Him. 
   
   
 "Confession Is Your One Chance!" Said Fred. 
   
   
 "Put Hot Irons To His Feet!" Advised coutlass.  (The Native Beer Had 
 Left Him Villainously Evil-Tempered.)  "Gassharamminy!  Leave Me Alone 
 With That Fat Baganda For Half An Hour, And I Will Make Him Tell Me 
 What Is On The Far Side Of The Moon, As Well As What His Mother Said 
 And Did Before She Bore Him!" 
   
   
 "Shall I Hand You Over To This Greek Gentleman?" Suggested fred. 
   
   
 "Oh, My God, No!" The Baganda Answered, Trembling.  "Hand Me Over To 
 The Bwana Collector!  He Will Put Me In jail.  I Am Not Afraid Of 
 British Jail!  It Will Not Be For Long!  The English Do Not Punish As 
 The Germans Do!  You Dare Not Assault Me!  You Dare Not Torture Me! 
 You Must Hand Me Over To The Bwana Collector To Be Tried in court Of 
 Law.  Nothing Else Is Permissible!  I Shall Receive Short Sentence, 
 That Is All, With Reprieve After Two-Thirds Time On Account Of Good 
 Conduct!" 
   
   
 "Make Him Prisoner In the Sleeping Sickness Village You Told Us About!" 
 Advised coutlass, Lolling at Ease On His Elbow To Watch The Man'S 
 Increasing Fear. 
   
   
 "Oh, No, No!  Oh, Gentlemen!  That Is Not How White Englishmen Behave! 
 You Must Either Let Me Go, Or--" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 347 
 He Made Another Terrific Dive For Liberty, Biting and Kicking at His 
 Captors, And Finally Lying On His Back To Scream As If The Hot Irons 
 Coutlass Had Recommended were Being applied in earnest. 
   
   
 "What Shall We Do With The Beast?" Asked fred.  The Hut Was So Full Of 
 His Infernal Screaming That We Could Talk Without His Hearing Us. 
   
   
 "Tie Him Up," I Said.  "If We Let Him Go He'Ll Run Straight To 
 Schillingschen." 
   
   
 "Leave Him Here With Coutlass And Me!"  Urged brown.  (He And Coutlass 
 Had Grown Almost Friendly Since Getting Drunk Together On The Native 
 Beer.) 
   
   
 "I Recommend," Said Will, "That We Take The Law In our Own Hands--" 
   
   
 The Baganda Ceased screaming and Listened. For Some Reason He Suspected 
 Will Of Being The Deciding Factor In our Councils--Perhaps Because Will 
 Had Said Least. 
   
   
 "--Take The Law In our Own Hands, And Thrash Him Soundly.  Later On We 
 Can Report What We Have Done To The British Government, And Ask For 
 Condonation Under The Circumstances Or Pay Whatever Piffling Fine They 
 Care To Impose For The Sake Of Appearances.  The Point Is, There'S No 
 Court Of Law In these Parts To Hand Him Over To, And He Needs 
 Punishing." 
   
   
 "I Agree," Said Fred. "Let'S Thrash Him To Begin With." 
   
   
 "Let'S Thrash Him," Went On Will, "As Thoroughly As We'Ve Seen His 
 Friends The Germans Do The Job!" 
   
   
 "Both Sides!" Agreed brown. 
   
   
 "Oh, No, No, No!  You Can Not Do That, Gentlemen!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 348 
 "Lay Him Out!" Ordered fred.  "Let'S Begin On Him.  Who Shall Beat Him 
 First?" 
   
   
 At A Nod From Fred our Porters Stretched him Face Downward On The Dry 
 Dung Floor, And Knelt On His Arms And Legs.  One Of Them Staffed a Good 
 Handful Of The Dry Dung Into His Mouth To Stop His Yelling. 
   
   
 "Of Course," Said Will, Rather Slowly And Distinctly, "If He Told Us 
 About Schillingschen, We'D Have To Let Him Off.  Let'S Hope He Holds 
 His Tongue, For I Never Wanted to Flog A Man So Much In all My Life!" 
   
   
 The Most Palpable Absurdity At The Moment Was That There Was Nothing In 
 The Hut To Beat Him With.  There Were Dozens Of Strips Of The Recently 
 Shot Hippo Hide Hanging In the Sun Outside To Dry, With Stones Tied to 
 The End Of Each, To Keep Them Taut And Straight, But Nobody Made A Move 
 To Bring One In. 
   
   
 "Take Off His Loin-Cloth!" Ordered fred.  "It Won'T Hurt Him Enough 
 With That Thing On!" 
   
   
 The Baganda Spat The Cow-Dung From His Mouth And Struggled violently. 
   
   
 "Oh, No, No!" He Shouted.  "I Will Tell!  I Will Tell Everything!" 
   
   
 "Too Late Now!" Said Will Jubilantly. 
   
   
 "No, Gentlemen, No!  Not Too Late!  I Tell All--I Tell Quickly!  Only 
 Listen!  Bwana Schillingschen Will Shoot Me If He Knows!  He Is Very 
 Bad Man--Very Kali--Very Fierce--And Oh, Too Clever!  You Must Protect 
 Me!" 
   
   
 He Could Hardly Get The Words Out, For The Knees Of Our Porters Pinned 
 Him Down, And His Chin Was Pressed hard On The Floor. 
   
   
 "I Ordered that Loin-Cloth Removed!" Was All Fred commented.  One Of 
 The Porters Attended to The Task, And The Baganda Hurried with His 
 Tale, Drawing In breath In noisy Gasps Like A Man With Asthma Because 
 Of The Weight Of His Captors On Him And The Strained position Of His 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 349 
 Neck. 
   
   
 "Bwana Schillingschen Is Sending Me And Many Other Men--Not All 
 Baganda, But Of Many Tribes--To Go Through All Parts And Say Islam Is 
 The Only Good Religion--All Germans Are High-Priests Of Islam--Soon The 
 Germans Are Coming With Great Armies To Destroy The British And All 
 Other Foolish People Who Have Not Accepted islam As Their Creed!  All 
 Are To Get Ready To Receive The Germans." 
   
   
 "Where Is Schillingschen Now?" Demanded fred. 
   
   
 "Beyond Mumias." 
   
   
 "How Far Beyond Mumias?" 
   
   
 "Who Knows?  He Is Marching." 
   
   
 "In Which Direction?  What For?" 
   
   
 "To Mount Elgon.  I Do Not Know What For." 
   
   
 "How Do You Know He Is Going To Mount Elgon?" 
   
   
 "He Told Me To Go There And Find Him After My Work Is Done." 
   
   
 "How Long Were You To Continue At What You Call Your Work?" 
   
   
 "A Month Or Five Weeks." 
   
   
 "So He Expects To Stay A Long Time Up There?" 
   
   
 "Yes." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 350 
 "Why?"  
   
   
 "I Do Not Know." 
   
   
 "Has He Many Loads With Him?" 
   
   
 "Very Many Provisions For A Long Time." 
   
   
 "Guns?" 
   
   
 "Several.  I Do Not Know How Many.  He Gives Guns To Some Of His Men 
 When He Gets To Where The Government Will Not Know About It." 
   
   
 "How Many Men Has He?" 
   
   
 "Not Many.  Ten, I Think." 
   
   
 "How Can They Carry All Those Loads?" 
   
   
 "He Brought A Hundred porters From Kisumu To Mumias, And There Bought 
 More Than Forty Donkeys, Sending The Porters Back Again." 
   
   
 "Then Are The Men He Has With Him His Own?" 
   
   
 "Yes." 
   
   
 "From German East?" 
   
   
 "Yes." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 351 
 "What Orders Did He Give You Besides To Tell These Lies About German 
 Conquest?" 
   
   
 "None. 
   
   
 "Pass Me That Whip!" Ordered fred.  There Was No Whip, But The Baganda 
 Could Not Know That. 
   
   
 "He Gave The Same Order To All Of Us," He Yelled.  "We Are To Stay Out 
 A Month Or Five Weeks Unless We Meet White Men.  If We Meet White Men 
 We Are To Discover The White Men'S Plans By Talking With Their 
 Servants, And Then Hurry To Him And Report." 
   
   
 "Ah!  How Many Other Spies Has He Out In this Direction?" 
   
   
 "None." 
   
   
 "Why Don'T You Pass Me That Whip When I Ask For It?" Demanded fred. 
   
   
 "None!  None! None, Bwana!  I Am The Only Man In this Direction!  He 
 Has Sent Them North, South, East And West, But I Am The Only One Down 
 Here." 
   
   
 "He Has A Lot More To Tell Yet," Said Coutlass.  "Let Me Put Hot Irons 
 On His Feet!" 
   
   
 Fred demurred.  "He Couldn'T March With Us If We Did That!" He Said 
 With A Perfectly Straight Face. 
   
   
 "Who Cares Whether Or Not He Marches!" Answered coutlass.  "To Tell All 
 He Knows Is His Business!  Wait While I Heat The Iron!" 
   
   
 The Baganda Began To Scream Again, Babbling That He Knew No More.  He 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 352 
 Assured us That Schillingschen Had Set The Closest Watch Along The Old 
 Caravan Route, And Toward His Own Rear In the Direction Of Kisumu, 
 Whence Officials Might Come On Chance Errands. 
   
   
 "All Right," Said Fred.  "Truss Him Up Tight And Keep Him Prisoner 
 Among Our Men In their Hut." 
   
   
 "Our Men Are Likely To Get Drunk Tonight," Warned will. 
   
   
 "Let Me Watch Him!" Urged coutlass.  "Leave Me With Him Alone!" 
   
   
 To The Greek'S Disgust We Decided to Trust The Prisoner With Our Own 
 Men, And To Keep Very Careful Watch On Them, Threatening Them With Loss 
 Of All Their Pay If They Dared get Drunk And Lose Him--A Threat They 
 Accepted at Its Full Face Value, But Resented because Of Brown'S And 
 The Greek'S Behavior The Night Before.  They Begged to Get A Little 
 Drunk--To Get Half As Drunk As Brown Had Been--Half As Drunk As 
 Coutlass Had Been--Not Drunk At All, But Just To Drink A Little.  We 
 Were Adamant, And Brown Added to Their Resentment By Preaching Them A 
 Sermon In their Own Tongue On The Importance Of Being Respectful Toward 
 White Folk. 
   
   
 Kazimoto Came In toward Dark, Foot-Weary, But Primed with News, And 
 Most Of What He Had To Say Confirmed the Baganda'S Story. 
 Schillingschen, He Said, Was Making For Mount Elgon In very Leisurely 
 Stages, Letting His Loaded donkeys Graze Their Way Along, And Spending 
 Hours Of His Time In questioning Natives Along The Way On Every Subject 
 Under The Sun. 
   
   
 Besides The Fact Of His Leisurely Progress, Which Was Sufficiently 
 Important In itself, We Learned from Kazimoto That Schillingschen'S Own 
 Ten Boys Were Unable To Speak The Language Of The Country Beyond A Few 
 Of The Commonest Words--That They All Slept In a Tent Together At 
 Night, Usually Quite A Little Distance Apart From Schillingschen'S--And 
 That The Donkeys Were Usually Picketed between The Two Tents In a Long 
 Line.  He Also Told Us The Ten Men Had Five Mauser Rifles Between Them, 
 In Addition To The German'S Own Battery Of Three Guns, One Of Which He 
 Carried all Day And Kept Beside His Bed at Night;  The Other Two Were 
 Carried behind Him In the Daytime By A Gun-Bearer. 
   
   
 That Was Good News On The Whole.  Coutlass Went Out On The Strength Of 
 It And Began To Drink Beer From The Big Earthenware Crock In which The 
 Women Had Just Brewed a Fresh Supply.  Brown Joined him Within Five 
 Minutes, And At The End Of An Hour, They Were Swearing Everlasting 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 353 
 Friendship, Coutlass Promising Brown His Cattle Back, And Brown 
 Assuring Him That Greece And The Greeks Had Always Held His Warmest 
 Possible Regards. 
   
   
 "Thermopylae, Y'Know, Old Boy, An' Marathon, An' All That Kind O' 
 Thing!  How Many Miles In a Day Could A Greek Run In them Days?  Gosh!" 
   
   
 They Two Drank Themselves To Sleep Among The Gentle Cattle In the 
 Circular Enclosure In the Midst Of The Village, And We--Going Out In 
 Turns At Intervals To Make Sure Our Own Boys Were Not Drinking--Matured 
 Our Plans In peace. 
   
   
 We Were Too Few To Dare Undertake The Task In front Of Us Without The 
 Aid Of Brown And The Greek.  It Was A Case Of Who Was Not Against Us 
 Must Be For Us, And The End Must Justify Both Men And Means.  We Tried 
 To Work Out Ways Of Managing Without Them, But When We Thought Of Our 
 Baganda Prisoner, And The Almost Certainty That Both He And Coutlass 
 Would Race To Give Our Game Away To Schillingschen If Let Out Of Sight 
 For A Minute, The Necessity Of Making The Best, Not The Worst, Of The 
 Greek Seemed overwhelming. 
   
   
 Early Next Morning, Before The Village Had Awakened from Its Glut Of 
 Beer And Hippo Meat, We Shook Coutlass And Brown To Their Feet None Too 
 Gently, And, With The Baganda Firmly Secured by The Wrists Between Two 
 Of Our Men, Started off, Fred leading. 
   
   
 The Village Awoke As If By Magic Before We Bad Dragged away The Thorns 
 From The Gate, And The Chief Leaped to The Realization That The Beads 
 He Had Promised his Women Were About As Concrete As His Drunken Dreams. 
  He And A Swarm Of His Younger Men Followed us, Begging and 
 Arguing--Mile After Mile--Growing angrier And More Importunate.  It Was 
 By My Advice That We Crossed the Stream Into The Sleeping Sickness Zone 
 And Left Them Shuddering On Their Own Side.  Our Own Men Did Not Know 
 So Much About The Ravages Of That Plague, And In any Case Were Willing 
 To Dare Whatever Risks We Despised.  But We Took A Long Bend Back And 
 Crossed the Stream Again Higher Up As Soon As The Chief And His Beggars 
 Were Out Of Sight.  It Was A Pity Not To Keep Exact Faith And Give Them 
 The Promised beads, If Only For The Sake Of Other White Men Who Might 
 Camp There In the Future;  But More Than Two Tons Of Hippo Meat Was Not 
 Bad Pay For Their Hospitality. 
   
   
 We Wished we Had As Good Price To Offer At The Villages On Our Way, For 
 Sleep Under Cover We Must, If We Hoped to Escape The Ravages Of Fever; 
 And The Primitive Savage, At Least In those Parts, Had The Principle 
 Down Fine Of Nothing Whatever For Nothing.  Yet As It Turned out, The 
 Very Man Whose Company We Looked on As A Nuisance Proved to Be A Key To 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 354 
 All Gates.  We Marched along The Track The Baganda Had Taken. The 
 Chiefs Of All Villages Knew Him Again;  And The Men Who Dared take Such 
 A Prophet Of Evil Prisoner Were Looked upon As High Government 
 Officials At Least. 
   
   
 We Accepted that Description Of Ourselves, Letting It Go By Silent 
 Assent, And Explained our Lack Of Tents And Almost Every Other Thing 
 The White Man Generally Travels With As Due To Haste.  Heaven Only Knew 
 What Lies Kazimoto Told Those Credulous Folk, To The Perfectly Worthy 
 End Of Making Our Lot Bearable, But We Were Fed after A Fashion, And 
 Lodged after A Worse One All Along Our Road.  And Who Should Send In 
 Reports About Us--And To Whom?  Obviously White Men With A Prisoner, 
 Marching In such A Hurry Toward The North, Were Government Officials. 
 Who Should Report Officials To Their Government?  As For The Tale About 
 Our Having Left Our Loads Behind--Are Not All White People Crazy?  Who 
 Shall Explain Their Craziness? 
   
   
 >From Being a Nuisance The Baganda Became A Joke.  When It Dawned on 
 His Fat Intellect That We Were Hurrying Toward Schillingschen With Only 
 One Rifle Among Us And No Baggage At All, He Jumped at Once To The 
 Conclusion We Must Be Schillingschen'S Friends;  And His Fear That We 
 Intended to Hand Him Over To That Ruthless Brute For Summary Punishment 
 Was More Melting To His Backbone Than The Dread Of Our Imaginary Whip, 
 That Had Caused him To Give Schillingschen Away. 
   
   
 He Tried to Bite Through The Thongs That Held Him, But Will Twisted for 
 Him Handcuffs Out Of Thick Iron Wire That We Begged from A Chief, Who 
 Had Intended to Make Ornaments With It For His Own Legs.  We Did Not 
 Dare Let The Man Escape, Nor Care To Prevent Our Men From Using Force 
 When He Threw Himself On The Ground And Wept Like A Spoiled child. 
   
   
 "I Will Tell You" He Said At Last, Deciding He Might As Well Be Hanged 
 For Mutton As For Lamb, "What Bwana Schillingschen Is Searching For!  I 
 Will Tell You Who Knows Where To Find It!  I Will Tell You Where To 
 Find The Man Who Knows!  Only Let Me Run Away Then To My Own Home In 
 Uganda, And I Will Never Again Leave It!  I Am Afraid!  I Am Afraid!" 
   
   
 But That Was Only One More Reason For Keeping Him With Us, And No 
 Ground At All For Delay.  He Would Not Tell Unless We Loosed his Hands 
 First, So We Pressed on, Camping Late And Starting Early, Until About 
 Noon Of The Fourth Day We Caught Sight Of Schillingschen'S Tents In the 
 Distance, And Gathered our Party At Once Into A Little Rocky Hollow To 
 Discuss The Situation. 
   
   
 Behind Us The Land Sloped gradually For Thirty Or Forty Miles Toward A 
 Sharp Escarpment That Overlooked the Level Land Beside The Lake.  At 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 355 
 Times Between The Hills And Trees We Could Glimpse Nyanza Itself, 
 Looking Like The Vast Rim Of Forever, Mysterious And Calm.  In front Of 
 Us The Rolling Hills, Broken Out Here And There Into Rocky Knolls, 
 Piled up On One Another Toward The Hump Of Elgon, On Which The Blue Sky 
 Rested.  In every Direction Were Villages Of Folk Who Knew So Little Of 
 White Men That They Paid No Taxes Yet And Did No Work--Marrying and 
 Giving In marriage--Fighting and Running away--Eating and Drinking and 
 Watching Their Women Cultivate The Corn And Beans And Sweet 
 Potatoes--Without As Much As Foreboding Of The Taxes, Work For Wages, 
 Missionaries, Law And Commerce Soon To Come. 
   
   
 Schillingschen Was More Than Taking His Time, He Was Dawdling, Keeping 
 His Donkeys Fat, And Letting His Men Wander At Pleasure To Right And 
 Left Gathering Reports For Him Of Unusual Folk Or Things.  We Came Very 
 Close To Being Seen By One Of Them, Who Emerged from A Village Near Us 
 With A Pair Of Chickens He Had Foraged, Followed by The Owner Of The 
 Luckless Birds In a Great Hurry And Fury To Get Paid For Them. 
   
   
 Schillingschen'S Tent Could Fairly Easily Be Stalked from The Far Side 
 In Broad Daylight, And I Was For Making The Attempt.  There Was The 
 Risk That One Of Our Porters Might Grow Restless And Break Bounds If We 
 Waited, Or That The Baganda Might Take To Yelling.  We Gagged him As 
 Soon As I Talked of The Danger Of That. 
   
   
 Coutlass And Brown, However, Were The Only Two Who Would Agree With Me. 
  Like Me, They Were Weary To Death Of Mtama Porridge, With Or Without 
 Milk, And The Sight Of Schillingschen'S Distant Campfire With A Great 
 Pot Resting On Stones In the Midst Of It Whetted appetite For White 
 Man'S Food.  They And I Were For Supping as Soon As Possible From The 
 German'S Provender, And Sleeping Under His Canvas Roof. 
   
   
 But Fred and Will Insisted on Caution, Claiming Reasonably That 
 Surprise Would Be Infinitely Easier After Dark.  It Was Unlikely That 
 Schillingschen Would Post Any Sentries, And Not Much Matter If He Did. 
 His Knowledge Of Natives And Natural Air Of Authority Made Him Quite 
 Safe Among Any But The Wildest, And These Were A Comparatively Peaceful 
 Folk.  In all Probability He Would Sit And Read By Candle Light, With 
 His Boys All Snoring a Hundred yards Away.  There Was No Making Fred 
 And Will See The Virtue Of My Contention That A Sudden Attack While His 
 Boys Were Scattered all About Among The Villages Would Be Just As 
 Likely To Succeed;  So We Settled down To Wait Where We Were With What 
 Patience We Could Summon. 
   
   
 It Was A Miserable, Hungry Business, Under A Blazing Hot Sky, Packed 
 Tightly Together Among Men Who Objected to Our Smell As Strongly As We 
 To Theirs.  It Is The Fixed opinion Of All Black People That The White 
 Man Smells Like "Bad Water";  And No Word Seems Discoverable That Will 
 Quite Return The Compliment.  That Afternoon Was Reminiscent Of The 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 356 
 Long Days On The Dhow, When Nobody Could Move Without Disturbing 
 Everybody Else, And We All Breathed the Same Hot Mixed stench Over And 
 Over. 
   
   
 We Posted two Sentries To Lie With Their Eyes On The Level Of The Rim 
 And Guard Against Surprise.  But There Was So Little To Watch, Except 
 Kites Wheeling Overhead Everlastingly, That They Went To Sleep;  And We 
 Were So Bored, And So Sure Of Our Hiding-Place And Schillingschen'S 
 Unsuspicion That We Did Not Notice Them.  I Myself Fell Asleep Toward 
 Five O'Clock, And When I Awoke The Sun Was So Low In the West That Our 
 Hollow Lay In deep Gloom. 
   
   
 Fred was Lying On His Elbow, Sucking an Unfilled, Unlighted pipe.  Will 
 Lay On His Side, Too, With Back Toward Both Of Us, Ruminating. 
 Coutlass And Brown Were Both Asleep, But Coutlass Awoke As I Rolled 
 Over And Struck Him With My Heel.  Nearly All The Porters Were Snoring. 
   
   
 It Was A Sharp Exclamation From The Greek That Caused me To Sit Up And 
 Face Due Westward.  The Others Lay As They Were.  It Was The Gloom In 
 Our Hollow--The Velvety Shadows In which We Lay With Granite Boulders 
 Scattered between Us, And No Alertness On Our Part That Saved that Day, 
 Although Coutlass Acted instantly And Creditably, Once Awake. 
   
   
 Schillingschen Stood There Looking Down On Us, With His Feet Planted 
 Squarely On The Rim Of The Hollow, And Mauser Rifle Under One Arm.  His 
 Great Splay Beard Flowed sidewise In the Evening Wind.  One Hand He 
 Held Over His Eyes, Trying To Make Out Details In the Dark, As Stupid 
 As We Were.  He Stood With His Back To The Setting Sun, Exposing 
 Himself Without Any Thought Of The Risk He Ran, His Huge, Filled-Out 
 Head Refusing Stubbornly To Take In the Truth Of What Had Happened. 
 Once Convinced, The Prussian Mind Is Not Readily Unconvinced.  He Had 
 Assured himself Long Ago That Our Party Was At The Bottom Of Victoria 
 Nyanza. 
   
   
 The Second He Did Make Out Details He Was Swift To Act, But That Was 
 Already Too Late, Although He Did Not Know It At The Moment.  He Threw 
 Up His Rifle And Laughed--A Great Deep Guffaw From The Stomach, That 
 Awoke Every One. 
   
   
 "So, So!" He Gloated.  "So Mr. Oakes And His Fellow Escaped convicts 
 Are Alive After All!  Ha-Ha-Ho-Ho!  So You Followed me All This Way, 
 Only To Forget That Kites Are Curious!  A Fine Comfortless Journey You 
 Must Have Had, Too!  There Were Twenty Kites Wheeling Over You.  I 
 Counted, And Wondered.  Curiosity Drove Me To Come And See.  The First 
 Man Who Moves A Finger, Mr. Oakes, Will Die That Instant!  Let Your 
 Rifle Lie Where It Is!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 357 
 It Would Be No Use Pretending The Man Had Not Courage, At All Events Of 
 The Sort That Glories In the Upper Hand Of A Fight.  He Chuckled, And 
 Reveled in our Predicament, Taking In, Now That His Eyes Had Grown 
 Accustomed to The Darkness Of Our Hollow, The Utter Lack Of Comforts Or 
 Provisions, And Enjoying Our Disappointment.  He Certainly Knew Himself 
 Master Of The Situation. 
   
   
 "I Suspect You Have A Man Of Mine Down There With You!" He Announced 
 Presently.  "Is Not That My Baganda?  Is He Gagged?  Is He Bound? 
 Loose Him, Mr. Oakes, At Once!"  I Say At Once!  Otherwise You Die Now!" 
   
   
 He Pointed his Rifle Directly At Fred, And The Next Second Fired it, 
 But Not Intentionally.  Coutlass Sprang From Behind Him, Having Crawled 
 Out Through A Shadow, And Hit Him So Hard With A Stone On The Back Of 
 The Skull That He Loosed off The Rifle And Pitched head-Foremost Down 
 Among Us.  The Greek Promptly Jumped on Top Of Him With A Yell Like A 
 Maniac'S, Failing To Land With Both Heels On His Backbone By Nothing 
 But Luck.  As It Was, He Lost Balance And Sat Down So Hard On 
 Schillingschen'S Head That There Was No Need of The Energy With Which 
 We All Followed suit, Piling all Over Him To Pin Him Down Like Hounds 
 That Have Rolled their Quarry Over. 
   
   
 The German Was Stunned--Knocked into Utter Oblivion--Breathing Like A 
 Sleeping Drunkard, And Bleeding Freely From The Nose.  Coutlass Jumped 
 Off Him And Began To Execute A War Dance Up And Down, Yelling Like A 
 Madman Until Fred threatened him With The Rifle And Will Gagged him 
 From Behind. 
   
   
 "Do You Want His Armed men Down On Us, You Ass?" 
   
   
 "Gassharamminy!" He Laughed. "I Forgot About Them!  Let Us Go And Eat 
 Their Supper!"  He Spoke As A Man Who Had Full Right Now To Be 
 Considered a Member In good Standing.  We All Noticed it, And Exchanged 
 Glances;  But That Was No Time For Argument About Men'S Rights. 
   
   
 Brown Was Already Over The Rim Of The Hollow And Making In the 
 Direction Of The Tents.  We Called him Back And Compelled him To Stay 
 On Guard Over The Prisoners, To His Awful Disgust, For He Suspected 
 There Was Whisky Among Schillingschen'S "Chop-Boxes."  But So Did We! 
 We Left All Our Boys With Him Except Kazimoto, Threatening Them With 
 Hitherto Unheard Of Penalties If They Dared as Much As Show A Lock Of 
 Hair Above The Rim Of The Hollow While We Were Gone. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 13 (The Sleep That Is No Sleep*) Pg 358 
 Then The Rest Of Us, With Fred leading and Kazimoto Last Of All, Crept 
 Out And Sought The Lowest Level Along Which To Reach The Camp.  Will 
 Had Taken Schillingschen'S Rifle And Went Next After Fred.  Coutlass 
 Followed so Close On My Heels That More Than Once He Trod On Them, And 
 Once So Nearly Tripped me That Fred called a Halt Behind Some Bushes 
 And Cursed me For Clumsiness. 
   
   
 But It Turned out To Be Easy Hunting.  The Ten Boys Had Tied the 
 Donkeys Up To A Rope In line And Sat Crooning While Their Supper Cooked 
 At A Long Bright Fire.  We Came Up To Schillingschen'S Tent From 
 Behind, Crept Around The Side Of It, And In a Moment Had Three More 
 Good Weapons, I Taking The Big-Bore Elephant Gun That Had Dealt With Us 
 So Savagely On The Lake, Coutlass Seizing another Mauser, And Kazimoto 
 Adopting The Shot-Gun. 
   
   
 The Rest Was Child'S Play.  We Marched out Of The Tent All Abreast And 
 Called on The Ten Boys To Surrender, Making Them Put Up Their Hands 
 Until Coutlass Had Found Their Five Rifles And Ammunition.  They Were 
 Too Astonished even To Ask Questions.  Accustomed to Schillingschen'S 
 Despotic Orders, They Obeyed ours Silently, Showing No Symptoms Of 
 Trying To Bolt, Having Nowhere To Bolt To;  But We Took Precautions. 
   
   
 Kazimoto Ran Back To Bring Our Party, And We Took A Coil Of Iron Wire 
 From Schillingschen'S Trade Goods And Fastened every Prisoner'S Hands 
 Firmly Behind His Back, Including The Unconscious German'S.  That Done, 
 We Ate The Meat, Beans And Vegetable Supper That The Ten Had Cooked. 
   
   
 Brown And Coutlass Found Schillingschen'S Whisky After That, And Under 
 Its Influence Again Swore Ceaseless Friendship Beneath The 
 Non-Committal Stars.  While They Feasted we Took Coutlass' Rifle Away 
 As A Plain Precaution. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 14 (Parcere Subjectis?) Pg 359 
 'When The Devil'S At Bay 
 Ye May Kneel Down And Pray 
 For A Year And A Day 
 To Be Spared the Distress Of Dispatching Him, 
 But The Longer Ye Kneel 
 The More Squeamish Ye'Ll Feel 
 'Cause The Louder He'Ll Squeal, 
 And At Brotherly Talk There'S No Matching Him. 
 Discussion'S His Aim, 
 And As Sure As You'Re Game 
 To Give Heed to The Same, 
 You Regarding Extremes With Compunction, 
 You May Bet He'Ll Requite 
 Your Compassion With Spite, 
 Knifing You In the Night 
 With Much Probonopublico Unction. 
   
   
 For A While We Looked like Having Trouble With Coutlass. We Gave Brown 
 A Rifle, And Distributed the Other Mausers Among Kazimoto And Our Best 
 Boys, But We Did Not Dare Trust The Greek With A Weapon He Might Use 
 Against Us, And Be Resented that Bitterly.  He Had An Answer To Fred'S 
 Subterfuge That As A White Man He Would Need a License Before Daring To 
 Carry Firearms.  "I Dare Do Anything!  I Care Nothing For Law!" He 
 Argued, And Fred nodded. 
   
   
 That Night We Reveled in luxury, For After The Life We Had Led recently 
 It Took Time To Reaccustom Any Of Us To The Common Comforts. 
 Schillingschen Traveled with Every Provision For His Carcass And His 
 Belly;  And We Plundered him. 
   
   
 We Put The Prisoners And Our Own Porters In a Hut In the Nearest Native 
 Village (Less Than Half A Mile Away) Under The Watchful Eye Of Kazimoto 
 And The Shot-Gun, Dividing Schillingschen'S Two Large Tents Between 
 Ourselves.  The Others Offered me The Camp-Bed as A Recent Invalid, But 
 I Refused, And Will Won It By Matching Coins.  We Divided the Blankets 
 In The Same Way, And All The Spare Underwear.  Brown And Coutlass Had 
 To Be Satisfied with Cotton Blankets From A Bale Of Trade Goods;  But 
 When They Had Rifled enough To Build Up Good Thick Mattresses As Well 
 As Coverings, There Were Still Two Apiece For Our Boys And All The 
 Porters. 
   
   
 The Chop-Boxes Were A Revelation.  The Man Had With Him Food Enough For 
 At Least A Year'S Traveling, Including all The Canned delicacies That 
 Hungry Men Dream About In the Wilderness.  Before We Slept We Ate So 
 Enormously Of So Very Many Things That It Was A Wonder That We Were 
 Able To Sleep At All. 
   
   
 We All Hoped schillingschen Would Die, For It Was A Hard Problem What 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 14 (Parcere Subjectis?) Pg 360 
 To Do With Him.  He Had No Papers In his Possession, Beyond A Diary 
 Written In german Schrift That Even Will Could Not Make Head Or Tail 
 Of, For All His Knowledge Of The Language;  And A Very Vague Map 
 Bearing The Imprint Of  The British Government, Filled in by Himself 
 With The Names Of The Villages He Had Passed on His Way.  There Was No 
 Proof That We Could Find That Would Have Condemned him Of Nefarious 
 Practises In a British Court Of Law. 
   
   
 "And Believe Me," Argued will, Sprawling On The Plundered bed, Blowing 
 The Smoke Of A Melachrino Through His Nose, "Your Local British Judges 
 Would Take The Word Of Professor Schillingschen Against All Of Ours, 
 Backed up By Simply Overwhelming Native Evidence!  They'Re So In awe Of 
 Schillingschen'S Professorial Degree, And Of His Passports, And His 
 Letters Of Introduction From This And That Mogul That They Wouldn'T 
 Believe Him Guilty Of Arson If They Caught Him In the Act!" 
   
   
 "Something'S Got To Be Done With Him Pretty Soon, Though," Answered 
 Fred from The Floor, Lying at Ease On A Pillow And A Folded jaeger 
 Blanket, Smoking a Fat Cigar. 
   
   
 Coutlass And Brown Were Singing Songs Outside The Tent And I Sat In a 
 Genuine Armchair With My Feet On A Box Full Of Canned plum Pudding. 
 (Nobody Knows, Who Has Not Hungered on The High Or Low Veld--Who Has 
 Not Eaten Meat Without Vegetables For Days On End, And Then Porridge 
 Without Salt Or Sugar--How Good That Common, Export, Canned plum 
 Pudding Is!  To Sit With My Feet On The Case That Contained it Was The 
 Arrogance Of Affluence!) 
   
   
 "We Have His Stores And His Papers," Said I.  "We Have His Baganda; 
 And As Time Goes On, And His Other Spies Begin To Come In, We Shall 
 Have Them, Too, If We'Re Half Careful.  Why Don'T We Let Him Go, To 
 Tell His Own Tale Wherever He Likes?" 
   
   
 "Maybe He'Ll Die Yet!" Said The Optimist On The Camp-Bed, Blowing More 
 Cigarette Smoke. 
   
   
 "Suppose He Doesn'T.  We'Ve Done Our Best To Keep Him Alive.  He'S Quit 
 Bleeding.  Suppose We Let Him Go, And He Lays A Charge Against Us. 
 Suppose They Send After Us And Bring Us In.  We'Ve His Diary And His 
 Men--Evidence Enough," Said I. 
   
   
 "You Bally Ass!" Fred murmured. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 14 (Parcere Subjectis?) Pg 361 
 "Cuckoo!" Laughed will. 
   
   
 "I Don'T Believe He'D Dare Approach A British Official With His Story," 
 Said I. 
   
   
 "Incredible Imbecile!" Fred answered.  "He Has The Gall Of A Brass 
 Monkey." 
   
   
 "And Magnetism--Loads Of It," Will Added.  "He'D Make The Pope Play 
 Three-Card Monte." 
   
   
 "To Say Nothing," Continued fred, "Of The Necessity Of Not Letting The 
 Government Know We'Re Here!  Rather Than Turn Him Loose, I'D March Him 
 Into Kisumu And Hand Him Over.  But, As Will Says Wisely, Our 
 Proconsuls Would Believe Him, And Put Us Under Bonds For Outraging a 
 Distinguished foreigner." 
   
   
 "Well, Then," Said I, "What The Devil Shall We Do With Him?  Offer 
 Something Constructive, You Two Solons!" 
   
   
 "Have The Four Men We Borrowed from The Island Bolted home Yet?" 
 Wondered will. 
   
   
 "They Hadn'T This Evening," I Answered.  "I Don'T Believe They'Ll 
 Venture Home Until We Stop Feeding Them.  They Were Hungry On Their 
 Island.  Our Shortest Commons Then Seemed affluence.  Now They'Re In 
 Heaven!" 
   
   
 "Their Canoes Must Be Where They Left Them In the Papyrus." 
   
   
 "Sure. Who'D Steal A Canoe?" 
   
   
 "Whoever Could Find Them," Fred answered.  "But They'Re Skilfully 
 Hidden.  Why Don'T We Put Schillingschen And His Ten Pet Blacks Into 
 Those Canoes, With A Little Food And No Rifles--And Show Them The Way 
 To German East?" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 14 (Parcere Subjectis?) Pg 362 
 "Because," Said I, "They Wouldn'T Go.  They'D Turn Around And Paddle 
 For Kisumu, To File Complaint Against Us." 
   
   
 "Don'T You Suppose," Suggested will, "That Schillingschen'S Own Men 'Ud 
 Insist On Going Home?  Out On The Water, Ten To One, Without Guns Or 
 Too Much Food, They Wouldn'T Have The Same Fear Of Him They Had 
 Formerly." 
   
   
 "That Chance Is Too Broad And Long And Deep," Said Fred.  "Altogether 
 Too Bulky To Be Taken.  Let'S Sleep On It.  This Cigar'S Done, And I'M 
 Drowsy.  Are You Quite Sure Schillingschen'S Hands Are Fast Behind Him? 
  Then Good Night, All!" 
   
   
 The Problem Looked no Easier Next Morning, With Schillingschen 
 Recovered sufficiently To Be Hungry And Sit Up.  There Was A Look In 
 His Eye Of Smoldering Courage And Assurance That Did Not Bode Well For 
 Us, And When We Untwisted the Iron Wire From His Wrists To Let Him Wash 
 Himself And Eat He Looked about Him With A Sort Of Quick-Fire Cunning 
 That Belied his Story Of Headache. 
   
   
 He Was Much Too Astute A Customer To Be Judged superficially.  I 
 Whispered to Fred not To Shackle Him Again Too Soon, And Sat Near And 
 Watched him, Close Enough For Real Safety, Yet Not So Close That He 
 Might Not Venture To Try Tricks.  He Said Nothing Whatever, But I 
 Noticed that His Eye, After Roving around The Tent, Kept Returning 
 Again And Again To A Chop-Box That Stood Near The Foot Of The Bed. 
   
   
 Now I Had Unpacked that Chop-Box And Repacked it The Previous Night.  I 
 Knew Everything It Contained--Exactly How Many Cans Of Plum Pudding. 
 It Was The Box I Had Rested my Feet On.  I Felt Perfectly Sure He Knew 
 As Well As I What The Box Contained, And To Suppose He Would Sit There 
 Planning To Recover Canned food, However Dainty, Was Ridiculous. 
   
   
 Wherefore It Was A Safe Conclusion He Was Trying To Deceive Me As To 
 His Real Intention.  I Put My Foot On The Box Again, And He Frowned, As 
 Much As To Say I Had Forestalled his Only Hope.  Pretending To Watch 
 The Box And Him, I Examined every Detail Of The Tent, Particularly That 
 Side Of It Opposite The Box, Away From Where It Seemed he Wanted me To 
 Look. 
   
   
 The Human Eye Is A Highly Imperfect Piece Of Mechanism And The Human 
 Brain Is Mostly Grayish Slush.  It Was Minutes Before I Detected the 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 14 (Parcere Subjectis?) Pg 363 
 Edge Of His Diary, Sticking Out From The Pocket Of Fred'S Shooting Coat 
 That Itself Protruded from Under The Folded blanket On Which Fred had 
 Slept.  It Was Nearer To Schillingschen Than To Me.  After Watching Him 
 For About Fifteen Minutes, During Which He Made A Great Fuss About His 
 Headache, I Was Quite Sure It Was The Diary That Interested him. 
   
   
 I Stooped and Extracted it From The Coat Pocket.  The Grimace He Made 
 Was Certainly Not Due To Headache. 
   
   
 "Fred!" I Called out, And He And Will Came Striding In together. 
   
   
 "That Diary'S The Key," I Said.  "It'S Important.  It Holds His 
 Secrets!" 
   
   
 Will Was Swift To Put That To The Test. 
   
   
 "What Will You Offer?" He Asked schillingschen.  "We Want You To Go 
 Back Direct To German East.  Will You Go, If We Give You Back Your 
 Diary?" 
    
   
 Schillingschen Blundered into The Trap Like A Buffalo In strange 
 Surroundings. 
   
   
 "Ja Wohl!" He Answered.  "Give Me That, And Yon Shall Never See Me 
 Again!" 
   
   
 At That Fred threw Himself Full Length On His Blanket And Took One Of 
 Schillingschen'S Cigars. 
   
   
 "Of Course," He Said, "You Would Give Anything For Leave To Take Those 
 Words Back!  You Needn'T Try To Hide The Wince--We Fully Appreciate The 
 Situation!  What Do You Say, You Fellows?  How About Last Night'S Idea? 
  Who Mooted it?  Shall We Send Him Back By Canoe To German East, With A 
 Guarantee That If He Doesn'T Go We'Ll Hand Over Diary And Him To Our 
 Government?" 
   
   
 "Better Send The Book To The Commissioner At Nairobi, Or Mombasa, Or 
 Wherever He Is," Suggested will.  "Then If The 'Prof' Here Doesn'T Get 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 14 (Parcere Subjectis?) Pg 364 
 A Swift Move On He'S Liable To Be Overtaken By The Cops, I Should Say." 
   
   
 "Let'S Make No Promises," Said I.  "I Vote We Simply Give Him Time To 
 Get Away." 
   
   
 At That The Germain Saw The Weak Side Of Our Case In a Flash. 
   
   
 "If You Dared give That Diary To Your Government," Be Growled, "You 
 Would Do So Without Bargaining With Me!  Why Do You Propose To Let Me 
 Go?  Out Of Love For Me?  No!  But Because You Dare Not Appeal To Your 
 Government!  Give Me That Diary, And I Will Go At Once To German East, 
 Not Otherwise!  It Is Only A Diary," He Added.  "Nothing 
 Important--Merely My Private Jottings And Memoranda." 
   
   
 Fred turned toward Me So That Schillingschen Could Not See His Face. 
   
   
 "Are You Willing To Start For Kisumu At Once With That Book?" He Asked, 
 And I Nodded.  He Winked at Me So Violently That I Could Not Trust 
 Myself To Answer Aloud And Keep A Straight Face. 
   
   
 "Very Well,"' He Said.  "Suppose You Start With It To-Morrow Morning. 
 At The End Of A Week Well Turn The Professor Home To Follow His Own 
 Nose!" 
   
   
 Schillingschen Shrugged his Shoulders And Refused to Be Drawn Into 
 Further Argument.  We Gave Him A Good Meal From His Own Provisions, And 
 Then Once More Made His Hands Fast With Wire Behind Him And Left Him To 
 Sleep Off His Rage If He Cared to In a Corner Of The Tent. 
   
   
 Later That Morning We Sent For The Baganda--Gave Him A View Of 
 Schillingschen Trussed and Helpless--And Questioned him About The Man 
 He Boasted he Knew, Who Could Tell Us What Schillingschen Was After. 
 He Was So Full Of Fear By That Time That He Held Back Nothing. 
   
   
 He Assured us The German Was After Buried ivory.  There Was A Man, Who 
 Had Promised to Meet Schillingschen, Who Knew Where To Find The Ivory 
 And Would Lead The Way To It.  He Did Not Know Names Or Places--Knew 
 Only That The Man Would Be Found Waiting at A Certain Place, And Was 
 Not White. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 14 (Parcere Subjectis?) Pg 365 
 "How Did You Get That Information?" Fred demanded. 
   
   
 "By Listening." 
   
   
 "When?  Where?" 
   
   
 "At Night, Months Ago, In nairobi, Outside The Professor'S Tent.  I Lay 
 Under The Fly Among The Loads And Listened.  The Man Came In the Dark, 
 And Went In the Dark.  I Did Not See Him.  I Did Not Hear Him Called by 
 Name.  He Must Have Been An Old Man.  Speaking Kiswahili, He Admitted 
 He Knew Where The Ivory Is.  He Said He Saw It Buried, And That He 
 Alone Survives Of All Men Who Buried it.  He Promised to Lead The 
 Professor To The Place On Condition That The Germans Shall Release His 
 Brother, And His Brother'S Wife, And Two Sons Whom They Keep In prison 
 On A Life-Sentence.  The Professor Agreed, But Said, 'Wait!  There Are 
 First Those People Who Also Think They Know The Secret.  Perhaps They 
 Do!  Wait Until After I Have Dealt With Them.  Then You Shall Take Me 
 To The Place!  After That Your Criminal Relations Shall Be Pardoned! 
 Here Is Money.  Go And Wait For Me At The Place We Spoke Of When We 
 Talked before.'" 
   
   
 We Each Cross-Examined him In turn, But Could Not Make Him Change His 
 Story In any Essential.  He Merely Exaggerated the Parts That He 
 Guessed might Please Us, And Begged to Be Allowed to Run Before 
 Schillingschen Could Break Loose And Get After Him. 
   
   
 By Noontime, When We Gave Him His Second Meal, Schillingschen Had Made 
 Up His Own Mind That His Case Was Desperate And Called for Heroic 
 Remedy. 
   
   
 "All Right," He Growled.  "I Need that Diary.  Hand It To Me And I'Ll 
 Tell You How To Find What You'Re After!" 
   
   
 "You Mean About The Man Who'S To Meet You?" Suggested fred blandly. 
   
   
 Schillingschen Started as If Shot. 
   
   
 "One Of Your Men Is An Eavesdropper," Fred assured him With A Cheerful 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 14 (Parcere Subjectis?) Pg 366 
 Nod.  "That Plug Has Been Pulled already, Professor!" 
   
   
 "Ley'S Play The Cards Face Up!" Will Interrupted impatiently.  "Listen, 
 Schillingschen.  You'Re An All-In Scoundrel.  You'Re A Spy.  You'Re A 
 Bloody Murderer Of Women And Defenseless Natives.  If We Could Prove 
 That We Wouldn'T Argue With You.  We Know You Burned that Dhow With The 
 Women In it, But We'Ve Got No Evidence, That'S All.  We Know The German 
 Government Wants That Ivory, And We Know Why.  We Also Want It.  Our 
 Only Reason For Secrecy Is That We Hope For Better Terms From The 
 British Government.  We'Ve Nothing To Fear, Except Possible Financial 
 Loss.  If You Prefer To Come With Us To Kisumu And Have The Whole 
 Matter Out In court, All You Need do Is Just Say So.  On The Other 
 Hand, If You Want To Get Out Of This Country Before Your Diary Can 
 Reach The Hands Of The British High Commissioner--You'D Just Better 
 Slide, That'S All!" 
   
   
 "You'Ve Only Until Dawn To Think It Over," Remarked fred.  "You Poor 
 Boob!" Continued will.  "You Imagine We'Re Criminals Because You'Re One 
 Yourself!  The Difference Between Your Offer And Ours Is That You'Re 
 Bluffing and We Know It, Whereas We'Re Not Bluffing By As Much As A 
 Hair, And The Quicker You See That The Better For You!" 
   
   
 "Oh, Rats!  Let'S Take Him In with Us To Kisumu!" Said I, And At That 
 Professor Schillingschen Capitulated. 
   
   
 "Very Well" He Said.  "Kurtz Und Gut. I Will Leave The Country.  Permit 
 Me To Take Only Food Enough, And My Porters, And One Gun!" 
   
   
 "No Guns!" Said Fred promptly. 
   
   
 Schillingschen Sighed resignedly, And We Went Out Of The Tent To Talk 
 Over Ways And Means.  In spite Of Our Recent Experience Of Germany'S 
 Colonial Government We Were Still So Ignorant Of The Workings Of The 
 Mens Germanica That We Took His Surrender At Face Value. 
   
   
 The Problem Of Getting Him Down To The Lake Shore Safely Was None Too 
 Simple.  I Was Soft Hearted and Headed enough To Propose That We Should 
 Loose His Hands, Now That He Had Surrendered, And Permit Him Reasonable 
 Liberty.  Will--Least Inclined of All Of Us To Cruelty--Was Disposed to 
 Agree With Me.  We Might Have Overborne Fred'S Objections If Coutlass 
 And Brown, Returning From Walking Off Their Overnight Debauch Together, 
 Had Not Shouted and Beckoned us In a Mysterious Sort Of Way, As If Some 
 New Discovery Puzzled them. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 14 (Parcere Subjectis?) Pg 367 
 We Walked about A Hundred and Fifty Yards To Where They Stood By A Row 
 Of Low Ant-Hills.  Neither Of Them Was In a Sociable Frame Of Mind.  It 
 Was Obvious From The Moment We Could See Their Faces Clearly That They 
 Had Not Called us To Enjoy A Joke.  They Stood Like Two Dumb Bird-Dogs, 
 Pointing, And We Had To Come About Abreast Of Them Before We Knew Why 
 We Were Summoned. 
   
   
 There Lay Five Clean-Picked skeletons, One On Each Ant-Hill.  One Was A 
 Big Bird'S;  One Looked like A Dog'S;  The Third Was A Snake'S;  The 
 Fourth A Young Antelope'S;  And The Fifth Was Certainly That Of A 
 Yellow Village Cur, For Some Of The Hairs From The Tip Of Its Tail Were 
 Remaining, Not Yet Borne Off By The Ants. 
   
   
 The Skeletons Lay As If The Creatures Had Died writhing.  There Were 
 Pegs Driven Into The Earth That Had Evidently Held Them In position By 
 The Sinews.  Most Peculiar Circumstance Of All, There Was A Camp-Chair 
 Standing Very Near By, With Its Feet Deep In the Red earth, As If A 
 Very Heavy Man Had Sat In it. 
   
   
 I Went Back To The Camp And Told Kazimoto To Bring One Of The 
 Professor'S Men.  Kazimoto Had To Do The Talking, For We Did Not Know 
 The Man'S Language, Nor He Ours. 
   
   
 Yes, The Professor Always Did That To Animals.  He Liked to Sit And 
 Watch Them And Keep The Kites Away.  He Said It Was White Man'S 
 Knowledge (Science?).  Yes, The Animals Were Pegged out Alive On The 
 Ant-Hills, And The Professor Would Sit With His Watch In his Hand, 
 Counting The Minutes Until They Ceased from Writhing.  It Was Part Of 
 The Duty Of The Ten To Catch Animals And Bring Them Alive To Him In 
 Camp For That Purpose.  No, They Did Not Know Why He Did It, Except 
 That It Was White Maia'S Knowledge.  No, Natives Did Not Do That Way, 
 Except Now And Then To Their Enemies.  The Professor Always Made 
 Threats He Would Do So To Them If They Ran Away From Him, Or Disobeyed, 
 Or Misbehaved.  Certainly They Believed him!  Why Should They Not 
 Believe Him?  Did Not Germans Always Keep Their Word When They Talked 
 Of Punishment? 
   
   
 We Decided after That To Let Schillingschen Lie Bound, Whether Or Not 
 The Iron Wire Cut His Wrists.  We Did Not Trouble To Go Back To Inquire 
 Whether He Needed drink, But Let Him Wait For That Until Supper-Time. 
 The Remainder Of That Afternoon We Spent Discussing Who Should Have The 
 Disagreeable And Not Too Easy Task Of Taking The Professor To The Lake 
 And Sending Him On His Way.  We Sat With Our Backs Against A Rock, With 
 The Firearms Beside Us And A Good View Of All The Countryside, Very 
 Much Puzzled as To Whether To Leave Coutlass Behind In camp (With Brown 
 And The Whisky) Or Send Him (With Or Without Brown) And One Or Two Of 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 14 (Parcere Subjectis?) Pg 368 
 Us On The Errand.  He Was A Dangerous Ally In either Case. 
   
   
 Evening Fell, And The Good Smell Of Supper Came Along The Wind To Find 
 Us Still Undecided.  We Returned to The Tent Thinking That Perhaps 
 Something Schillingschen Himself Might Say Would Help Us To Decide One 
 Way Or The Other. 
   
   
 "Better See If The Brute Wants A Drink," Said Fred, And I Went In ahead 
 To Offer Him Water. 
   
   
 He Was Gone!  Clean Gone, Without A Trace, Or A Hint As To How He 
 Managed it!  I Called the Others, And We Hunted.  The Sides Of The Tent 
 Were Pegged down Tight All Around.  The Front, It Is True, Was Wide 
 Open, But We Had Sat In full View Of It And Not So Much As A Rat Could 
 Have Crept Out Without Our Seeing.  There Were No Signs Of Burrowing. 
 He Was Not Under The Bed, Or Behind The Boxes, Or Between The Sides Of 
 The Tent And The Fly.  The Only Cover For More Than A Hundred yards Was 
 The Shallow Depression Along Which We Had Come To The Capture Of The 
 Camp, And That Was The Way He Must Have Taken.  But That, Too, Had Been 
 Practically In full View Of Us All The Time. 
   
   
 We Counted heads And Called the Roll.  Coutlass Was Close By.  It Did 
 Not Look As If He Had Played traitor This Time.  Brown Was Sleeping Off 
 His Headache In the Shade.  Kazimoto And All The Boys Were Accounted 
 For.  The Prisoners Were Safe.  No Donkeys Were Missing--No 
 Firearms--And No Loads.  The Earth Had Simply Opened up And Swallowed 
 Schillingschen, And That Was All About It! 
   
   
 He Had Not Made Off With His Pocket Diary.  Fred had That.  There And 
 Then We Packed it In an Empty Biscuit Tin And Buried it Under A Rock, 
 Will And I Keeping Watch While Fred did The Digging and Covering Up. 
 It Was Too Likely That Schillingschen Would Come Back In the Night And 
 Try To Steal It For Any Of Us To Care About Keeping It On His Person. 
   
   
 It Was Too Late To Look Far And Wide For Him That Evening.  A Hunter 
 Such As He Could Have Lain Unseen In the Dark With Us Almost Stepping 
 On Him.  Gone Was All Appetite For Supper!  We Nibbled, And Swore, And 
 Smoked--Locked up The Whisky--Defied either Brown Or Coutlass To Try To 
 Break The Boxes Open--And Arranged to Take Turns On Sentry-Go All That 
 Night, Will, Fred, And I--Declining Very Pointedly Offers By The Other 
 Two To Have Their Part In keeping Watch.  In spite Of Lack Of Evidence 
 We Suspected coutlass;  And We Knew No Particular Reason For Having 
 Confidence In brown. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 369 
 Turn In!  Turn In!  The Jungle Lords Come Forth 
         Cat-Footed, Blazing-Eyed--The Owners Of The Dark, 
 What Though Ye Steal The Day! We Know The Worth 
         Of Vain Tubes Spitting at A Phantom Mark 
 With Only Human Eyes To Guide The Fire! 
         Tremble, Ye Hairless Ones, Who Only See By Day, 
 The Night Is Ours!  Who Challenges Our Ire? 
         Urrumph!  Urrarrgh!  Turn In there!  Way! 
   
   
 Ye Come With Iron Lines And Dare To Camp 
         Where We Were Lords When Daniel Stood A Test! 
 Where Once The Tired safaris Used to Tramp 
         On Noisy Wheels Ye Loll Along At Rest! 
 Tremble, Ye Long-Range Lovers Of The Day, 
         'Twas We Who Shook The Circus Walls Of Ancient Rome! 
 The Dark Is Ours!  Take Cover!  Way There!  Way! 
         Urmmph!  Urrarrgh!  Take Cover!  Home! 
   
   
 The Man Who Tries To Explain Away Coincidences To Men Who Were The 
 Victims Of Them Is Likely To Need more Sympathy Than He Will Get.  The 
 Dictionary Defines Them Clumsily As Instances Of Coinciding, Apparently 
 Accidental, But Which Suggest A Casual Connection. 
   
   
 Lions Paid Us A Visit That First Night After Schillingschen'S 
 Escape--The First Lions We Had Seen Or Heard Since Landing On The North 
 Shore Of The Lake.  We Prayed they Might Get Schillingschen, Yet They 
 And He Persisted until Morning--They Roaring and Circling Never Near 
 Enough For The Man On Guard To Get A Shot--He Also Circling The Camp, 
 Calling To His Ten Men, Whom We Had Transferred from The Native Village 
 To The Second Tent Under Guard Of Kazimoto And Our Own Men As A 
 Precaution. 
   
   
 Our Boys Slept As If Drugged, But Not His.  He Called to Them In a 
 Language That Even Kazimoto Did Not Understand, And They Kept Answering 
 At Intervals.  Once, When I Was Listening To Locate Schillingschen If I 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 370 
 Could, The Lions Came Sniffing and Snuffing To The Back Side Of The 
 Tent.  I Tried to Stalk Them--A Rash, Reprehensible, Tenderfoot Trick. 
 Luck Was With Me;  They Slunk Away In the Shadows, And I Lived to 
 Summon Fred and Will.  We Tried to Save The Donkeys, But The Lions Took 
 Three Of Them At Their Leisure, And Scared the Rest So That They Broke 
 Out Of The Thorn-Bush Boma We Had Made The Boys Build (As A Precaution 
 Against Leopards, Not Lions).  Next Morning Out Of Forty We Recovered 
 Twenty-Five, And Wondered how Many Of Them Schillingschen Got. 
   
   
 Remembering How We Ourselves Had Managed, Without Ammunition Or 
 Supplies, We Did Not Fool Ourselves With The Belief That 
 Schillingschen, With His Brutal Personal Magnetism And Profound 
 Knowledge Of Natives, Would Not Do Better.  The Probability Was He 
 Would Stir Up The Countryside Against Us. 
   
   
 He Had Been Doing Missionary Work;  It Might Be The Natives Of That 
 Part Were Already Sufficiently Schooled to Do Murder At His Bidding. 
   
   
 We Decided to Leave At Once For A District Where He Had Not Yet Done 
 Any Of His Infernal Preaching. 
   
   
 "You Should Set A Trap And Shoot The Swine!" Coutlass Insisted.  Will 
 Was Inclined to Agree With Him, But Fred and I Demurred.  The British 
 Writ Had Never Really Run As Far As The Slopes Of Elgon, And We Could 
 See Them Ahead Of Us Not Very Many Marches Away.  If Schillingschen 
 Intended to Dog Us And Watch Chances We Preferred to Have Him Do That 
 In A Remote Wilderness, Where Our Prospect Of Influencing Natives Would 
 Likely Be As Good As His, That Was All. 
   
   
 Part Of Our Strategy Was To Make An Early Start And March Swiftly, 
 Taking advantage Of His Physical Weariness After A Night In the Open On 
 The Prowl;  But After A Few Days In camp It Is The Most Difficult Thing 
 Imaginable To Get A Crowd Of Porters Started on The March.  It Was More 
 Particularly Difficult On That Occasion Because None Of Our Men Were 
 Familiar With Schillingschen'S Loads, And The Captured ten, Even When 
 We Loosed their Hands And Treated them Friendly, Showed no Disposition 
 To Be Useful.  We Gave Them A Load Apiece To Carry, But To Every One We 
 Had To Assign Two Of Our Own As Guards, So That, What With Having Lost 
 The Fifteen Donkeys, We Had Not A Man To Spare. 
   
   
 It Was After Midday When We Got Off At Last.  We Had Not Left The Camp 
 More Than Half A Mile Behind When I Looked back And Saw Schillingschen 
 Where His Great Tent Had Stood, Cavorting On Hands And Feet Like An 
 Enormous Dog-Baboon, Searching Every Inch Of The Ground For Anything We 
 Might Have Left.  We Three Stood And Watched him For Half An Hour, 
 Sweating With Fear Lest He Chance On The Place Where His Diary Lay 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 371 
 Buried in the Tin Box.  We Began To Wish We Had Brought It With Us.  I 
 Said We Had Done Foolishly To Leave It, Although I Had Approved of 
 Fred'S Burying It At The Time. 
   
   
 "Suppose," I Argued, "He Sets The Natives Of That Village To Searching! 
  What'S To Prevent Him?  You Know The Kind Of Job They'D Make Of 
 It--Blade By Blade Of Grass--Pebble By Pebble.  Where They Found A 
 Trace Of Loosened dirt They'D Dig." 
   
   
 "Did You Bury Something, Then?" Inquired a Voice We Knew Too Well.  "By 
 The Ace Of Stinks, Those Natives Can Smell Out Anything a White Man 
 Ever Touched!" 
   
   
 We Turned and Faced coutlass, Whom We Had Imagined on Ahead With The 
 Safari.  If He Noticed our Sour Looks, He Saw Fit To Ignore Them;  But 
 He Took An Upperhanded, New, Insolent Way With Us, No Doubt Due To Our 
 Refusal To Shoot Schillingschen.  He Ascribed that To A Yellow Streak. 
   
   
 "I Was Right.  Gassharamminy!  I Could Have Sworn I Saw Two Of You On 
 Watch While The Third Man Dug Among The Stones!  What Did You Bury?  I 
 Came Back To Talk About Brown.  The Poor Drunkard Wants To Head More To 
 The East.  I Say Straight On.  What Do You Say?" 
   
   
 We Told Him To Go Forward.  Then We Looked in one Another'S Eyes, And 
 Said Nothing.  Whether Or Not The Original Decision Had Been Wise, 
 There Was No Question Now What Was The Proper Course. 
   
   
 Instead Of Tiring Out Schillingschen We Made An Early Camp By A 
 Watercourse, And Built A Very Big Protection For The Donkeys Against 
 Lions--A High Thorn Enclosure, And An Outer One Not So High, With A 
 Space Between Them Wide Enough For The Two Tents And Half A Dozen Big 
 Fires.  Before Dark We Had Enough Fuel Stacked up To Keep The Fires 
 Blazing Well All Night Long. 
   
   
 Neither Coutlass Nor Brown Had Had A Drink Of Whisky That Day, So It 
 Was All The More Remarkable That Coutlass Lay Down Early In a Corner Of 
 The Tent And Fell Into A Sound Sleep Almost At Once.  We Were 
 Thoroughly Glad Of It.  Our Plan Was For Two Of Us To Creep Out Of Camp 
 When It Was Dark Enough, And Recover The Contents Of That Tin Box 
 Before Schillingschen Or The Blacks Could Forestall Us. 
   
   
 The Lions Began Roaring again At About Sundown, But They Love 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 372 
 Donkey-Meat More Than Almost Any Except Giraffe, And It Was Not Likely 
 They Would Trouble Us.  We Were So Sure The Task Was Not Particularly 
 Risky That Fred, Who Would Have Insisted on The Place Of Greater Danger 
 For Himself, Consented willingly Enough To Stay In camp While Will And 
 I Went Back.  Our Original Intention Was To Take Schillingschen'S 
 Patent, Wind-Proof, Non-Upsettable Camp Lantern To Find The Way With 
 And Keep Wild Beasts At Bay;  But Just As Will Went Toward The Tent To 
 Fetch It (Fred'S Back Was Turned, Over On The Far Side Where He Was 
 Seeing To The Camp-Fires) We Both At Once Caught Sight Of Coutlass 
 Creeping On Hands And Knees Along A Shadow.  We Had Closed the Gap In 
 The Outer Wall Of Thorn, But He Dragged aside Enough To Make An Opening 
 And Slipped through, Thinking Himself Unobserved. 
   
   
 To Have Followed him With A Lantern Would Have Been Worse Than My Crime 
 Of Stalking Lions In the Dark.  Will Ran To Tell Fred what Had Happened 
 While I Followed the Greek Through The Gap, And Presently Will And I 
 Were Both Hot On His Trail, As Close To Him As We Could Keep Without 
 Letting Him Hear Us. 
   
   
 "Fred says," Will Whispered, "If We Catch Him Talking With 
 Schillingschen, Shoot 'Em Both!  Fred won'T Let Him Into Camp Again 
 Unless We Bring Back Proof He'S Not A Traitor!" 
   
   
 We Were Pursuing a Practised hunter, Who At First Kept Stopping To Make 
 Sure He Was Not Followed.  He Took A Line Across That Wild Country In 
 The Dark With Such Assurance, And So Swiftly That It Was Unbelievably 
 Hard To Follow Him Quietly.  It Was Not Long Before We Lost Sound Of 
 Him.  Then We Ran More Freely, Trusting To Luck As Much As Anything To 
 Keep Him Thinking He Had The Darkness To Himself. 
   
   
 Our Short Day'S Journey Seemed to Have Trebled itself!  We Were 
 Leg-Weary And Tired-Eyed when At Last We Reached, And Nearly Fell Into 
 A Hollow We Recognized.  Will Went Down And Struck A Match To Get A 
 Look At His Watch. 
   
   
 "There Ought To Be A Moon In about Ten Minutes," He Whispered.  "We'Re 
 Within Sight Of The Place.  Suppose We Climb A Tree And Scout About A 
 Bit." 
   
   
 It Was Not A Very Big Tree That We Selected, But It Was The Biggest; 
 It Had Low Branches, And The Merit Of Being Easy To Climb. 
   
   
 When The Pale Latter Half Of The Moon Announced itself We Could Dimly 
 Make Out From The Upper Branches All Of The Flat Ground Where The Camp 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 373 
 Had Been.  There Was No Sign Of Coutlass.  None Of Schillingschen.  A 
 Lioness And Two Enormous Lions Stood Facing One Another In a Triangle, 
 Almost Exactly On The Spot Where The Larger Tent Had Stood, Not Fifty 
 Yards From Us. 
   
   
 "Gee!"' Whispered will Excitedly.  "We Nearly Stumbled on 'Em!" 
   
   
 "Shoot!" I Whispered.  My Own Position On The Branch Was So Insecure 
 That I Could Not Have Brought My Rifle Into Use Without Making a 
 Prodigious Noise.  Will Shook His Head. 
   
   
 "I Can See Coutlass Now!  Look At That Rock--He'S Hiding Behind 
 It--See, He'S Climbing!  And Look, There'S Schillingschen!" 
   
   
 Neither Man Was Aware Of The Other'S Presence, Or Of Ours.  They Were 
 Out Of Sight Of Each Other, Coutlass On The Very Rocks Against Which We 
 Had Leaned to Watch The Tent The Afternoon Before, And Neither Man 
 Really Out Of Reach Of Anything With Claws That Cared to Go After Them 
 In Earnest. 
   
   
 The Arrival Of The Dim Moon Seemed to Give The Lions Their Cue For 
 Action.  The Lioness Turned half Away, As If Weary Of Waiting, And Then 
 Lay Down Full-Length To Watch As One Lion Sprang At The Other With A 
 Roar Like The Wrath Of Warring Worlds.  They Met In mid-Air, Claw To 
 Claw, And Went Down Together--A Roaring, Snarling, Eight-Legged, 
 Two-Tailed catastrophe--Never Apart--Not Still An Instant--Tearing, 
 Beating--Rolling Over And Over--Emitting Bellows Of Mingled rage And 
 Agony Whenever The Teeth Of One Or Other Brute Went Home. 
   
   
 Even As Shadows Fighting In the Shadows They Were Terrible To Watch. 
 They Shook The Very Earth And Air, As If They Owned all The Primeval 
 Bestial Force Of All The Animals.  And The She-Lion Lay Watching Them, 
 Her Eyes Like Burning Yellow Coals, Not Moving a Muscle That We Could 
 See. 
   
   
 Iron Could Not Have Withstood The Blows;  The Thunder Of Them Reached 
 Us In the Tree!  Steel Ropes Could Not Have Endured the Strain As Claws 
 Went Home, And The Brutes Wrenched, Ripped, And Yelled in titanic 
 Agony.  Their Fury Increased.  Wounds Did Not Seem To Enfeeble Them. 
 Nothing Checked the Speed of The Fighting an Instant, Until Suddenly 
 The Lioness Stood Erect, Gave A Long Loud Call Like A Cat'S, And Turned 
 And Vanished. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 374 
 She Had Seen.  She Knew.  Like A Spring Loosed from Its Containing Box 
 One Of The Lions Freed himself In mid-Air And Hurtled clear, Landing On 
 All-Fours And Hurrying away After The Lioness With A Bad Limp.  The 
 Other Lion Fell On His Side And Lay Groaning, Then Roared 
 Half-Heartedly And Dragged himself Away. 
   
   
 The Second Lion Had Hardly Gone When Coutlass Descended gingerly From 
 The Rock, Peering about Him, And Listening.  He Evidently Had No 
 Suspicion Of Our Presence, For He Never Once Looked in our Direction. 
 It Was Schillingschen, Not Lions, He Feared;  And Schillingschen, 
 Clambering Over The Top Of Another Rock, Watched him As A Night-Beast 
 Eyes Its Prey.  Another One-Act Drama Was Staged, And It Was Not Time 
 For Us To Come Down From The Tree Yet. 
   
   
 Satisfied he Was Not Followed and That Schillingschen Was Elsewhere, 
 Coutlass Crept From Rock To Rock Toward The Little Cluster Of Small 
 Ones Where, By His Own Confession, He Had Seen Fred bury The Box. 
 Schillingschen Stalked him Through The Shadows As Actively As A Great 
 Ape, Making No Sound, As Clearly Visible To Us As He Was Invisible To 
 Coutlass. 
   
   
 There Was Not A Trace Of Mist--Nothing To Obscure The Dim Pale Light, 
 And As The Moon Swung Higher Into Space We Could See Both Men'S Every 
 Movement, Like The Play Of Marionettes. 
   
   
 Down On His Knees At Last Among The Small Loose Rocks, Coutlass Began 
 Digging With His Fingers--Grew Weary Of That Very Soon, And Drew Out 
 The Long Knife From His Boot--Dug With That Like A Frenzied man Until 
 From Our Tree We Heard The Hard Point Strike On Metal.  Then 
 Schillingschen Began To Close In, And It Was Time For Us To Drop Down 
 From The Tree. 
   
   
 We Made An Abominable Lot Of Noise About It, For The Tree Creaked, And 
 Our Clothing Tore On The Thorny Projections Of Limbs That Seemed to 
 Have Grown There Since We Climbed.  To Make Matters Worse, I Stepped 
 Off The Lowest Branch, Imagining There Was Another Branch Beneath It, 
 And Fell Headlong, Rifle And All, With A Clatter And Thump That Should 
 Have Alarmed the Village Half A Mile Away.  And Will, Not Knowing What 
 I Had Done But Alarmed by The Noise I Made, Jumped down On Top Of Me. 
   
   
 We Picked ourselves Up And Listened.  We Could Hear The Short Quick 
 Stabs Of The Knife As Coutlass Loosed and Scooped the Earth Out.  Among 
 The Myriad Noises Of The African Night Our Own, That Seemed appalling 
 To Us, Had Passed unnoticed--Or Perhaps Schillingschen Heard, And 
 Thought It Was The Injured lion Dragging Himself Away.  (Nobody Needed 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 375 
 Worry About The Chance Of Attack From That Particular Lion For Many A 
 Night To Come;  He Would Ask Nothing Better Than To Be Left To Eat Mice 
 And Carrion Until His Awful Wounds Were Healed.) 
   
   
 Reassured by The Sound Of Digging We Crept Forward, Knowing Pretty Well 
 The Best Path To Take From Having Seen Schillingschen Stalking.  But It 
 Was More By Dint Of Their Obsession Than By Any Skill Of Ours That We 
 Crept Up Near Without Giving Them Alarm.  Coutlass Was Still On His 
 Knees, Throwing Out The Last Few Handfuls Of Loose Dirt. 
 Schillingschen Stood Almost Over Him, So Close That The Thrown Dirt 
 Struck Against His Legs. 
   
   
 We Took Up Positions In the Shadow, One To Either Side, Almost Afraid 
 To Breathe, I Cursing Because The Rifle Quivered in my Two Hands Like 
 The Proverbial Aspen Leaf.  The Prospect Of Shooting a White Man--Even 
 Such A Thorough-Paced blackguard White As Schillingschen--Made Me As 
 Nervous As A School-Girl At A Grown-Up Party. 
   
   
 At Last Coutlass Groped down Shoulder-Deep And Drew The Box Out. 
   
   
 "Give That To Me!"  Schillingschen Shouted like A Thunder-Clap, Making 
 Me Jump As If I Were The One Intended. 
   
   
 The Moonlight Gleamed on The Tin Box.  Coutlass Did Not Drop It But 
 Turned his Head To Look Behind Him.  Schillingschen Swung For His Face 
 With A Clenched fist And The Whole Weight And Strength Of His Ungainly 
 Body.  He Would Have Broken The Jaw He Aimed at Had The Blow Landed; 
 But The Greek'S Wit Was Too Swift. 
   
   
 He Kicked like A Mule, Hard And Suddenly, Ducking His Head, And Then 
 Diving Backward Between The German'S Legs That Were Outspread To Give 
 Him Balance And Leverage For The Fist-Blow.  Schillingschen Pitched 
 Over Him Head-Forward, Landing On Both Hands With One Shoulder In the 
 Hole Out Of Which The Box Had Come.  With The Other Arm He Reached for 
 The Knife That Coutlass Had Laid On The Loose Earth.  Coutlass Reached 
 For It, Too, Too Late, And There Followed a Fight Not At All Inferior 
 In Fury To The Battle Of The Lions.  Humans Are Only Feebler Than The 
 Beasts, Not Less Malicious. 
   
   
 Will Reached for The Tin Box, Opened it, Took Out The Diary, Closed it 
 Again, Put The Diary In his Own Inner Pocket, And Returned the Box; 
 But They Never Saw Or Heard Him.  The German, With An Arm As Strong As 
 An Ape'S, Thrust Again And Again At Coutlass, Missing His Skin By A 
 Bait'S Breadth As The Greek Held Off The Blows With The Utmost Strength 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 376 
 Of Both Hands. 
   
   
 Suddenly Coutlass Sprang To His Feet, Broke Loose For A Second, Landed 
 A Terrific Kick In the German'S Stomach, And Closed again.  He Twisted 
 Schillingschen'S Great Splay Beard Into A Wisp And Wrenched it, Forcing 
 His Head Back, Holding The Knife-Hand In his Own Left, And Spitting 
 Between The German'S Parted teeth;  Then Threw All His Weight On Him 
 Suddenly, And They Went Down Together, Coutlass On Top And 
 Schillingschen Stabbing Violently In the Direction Of His Ribs. 
   
   
 Letting Go The Beard, Coutlass Rained blows On The German'S Face With 
 His Free Fist.  Made Frantic By That Assault Schillingschen Squirmed 
 And Upset The Greek'S Balance, Rolled him Partly Over And, Blinded by A 
 Very Rain Of Blows, Slashed and Stabbed half A Dozen Times.  Coutlass 
 Screamed once, And Swore Twice As The Knife Got In between His Bones. 
 The German Could Not Wrench It Out Again.  With Both Hands Free Now, 
 The Greek Seized him By The Throat And Began To Throttle Him, Beating 
 With His Forehead On The Purple Face The While His Steel Fingers 
 Kneaded, As If The Throat Were Dough. 
   
   
 We Were Not At All Inclined to Stop Coutlass From Killing The Man.  We 
 Came Closer, To See The End, And Coutlass Caught Sight Of Us At Last. 
   
   
 "Shoot Him!" He Screamed.  "Gassharamminy!  Shoot Him, Can'T You, While 
 I Hold Him!" 
   
   
 As He Made That Appeal The German Convulsed his Whole Body Like An 
 Earthquake, Wrenched the Knife Loose At Last, And As Coutlass Changed 
 Position To Guard Against A New Terrific Stab Rolled him Over, Freed 
 Himself And Stood With Upraised hand To Give The Finishing Blow.  Then 
 Suddenly He Saw Us And His Jaw Dropped, The Beastly Mess That Had Been 
 His Well-Kept Beard Dropping an Inch And Showing Where The Greeks Fist 
 Had Broken The Front Teeth.  But That Was Only For A Second--A Second 
 That Gave Coutlass Time To Rise To His Knees, And Dodge The Descending 
 Blow. 
   
   
 I Made Up My Mind Then It Was Time To Shoot The German, Whatever The 
 Crimes Of The Greek Might Be;  But Coutlass Had Not Grown Slower Of Wit 
 From Loss Of Blood.  As He Dodged he Rolled sidewise And Seized my 
 Rifle, Jerking It From My Hand.  He Jerked too Quickly.  The German Saw 
 The Move And Kicked it, Sending It Spinning Several Yards Away.  We All 
 Made A Sudden Scramble For It, Schillingschen Leading, When The German 
 Turned as Suddenly As One Of The Great Apes He So Resembled, Tripped 
 Will By The Heel, Wrenched the Rifle From His Right Hand, Pounced on 
 The Empty Tin Box, And Was Gone! 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 377 
 Too Late, I Remembered my Own Rifle And Fired after Him, Emptying The 
 Magazine At Shadows. 
   
   
 Will'S Rage And Self-Contempt Were More Distressing Than The Greek'S 
 Spouting Knife-Wounds. 
   
   
 "By Blood And Knuckle-Bones!  Give Me That Gun Of Yours, Will You!  I 
 Go After The Swine!  I Cut His Liver Out!  Where Is My Knife?  Ah, 
 There It Is!  Stoop And Give It Me, For My Ribs Hurt!  So!  Now I Go 
 After Him!" 
   
   
 We Held Coutlass Back, Making Him Be Still While We Tore His Shirt In 
 Strips, And Then Our Own, And Tried to Staunch The Blood, Will Almost 
 Blubbering With Rage While His Fingers Worked, And The Greek Cursing Us 
 Both For Wasting Time. 
   
   
 "He Has The Box!" He Screamed.  "He Has The Rifle!" 
   
   
 "He Has No Ammunition But What'S In the Magazine," Said I; And That 
 Started will Off Swearing at Himself All Over Again From The Beginning. 
   
   
 "You Damned yegg!" He Complained as Be Knotted two Strips Of Shirt. 
 "This Would Never Have Happened if You Hadn'T Sneaked out To Steal The 
 Contents Of The Box!" 
   
   
 Suddenly Coutlass Screamed again, Like A Mad Stallion Smelling Battle. 
   
   
 "There He Is!  There The Swine Is!  I See Him!  I Hear Him! Give Me 
 That--" 
   
   
 He Reached for My Rifle,  But I Was Too Quick That Time And Stepped 
 Back Out Of Range Of His Arm.  As I Did That The Blood Burst Anew From 
 His Wounds.  He Put His Left Hand To His Side And Scattered the Hot 
 Blood Up In the Air In a Sort Of Votive Offering To The Gods Of Greek 
 Revenge, And, Brandishing The Long Knife, Tore Away Into The Dark. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 378 
 "I See Him!" He Yelled.  "I See The Swine!  By Gassharamminy!  To-Night 
 His Naked feet'Ll Blister On The Floor Of Hell!" 
   
   
 We Followed him, Enthralled by Mixed motives Made Of Desire And A Sort 
 Of Half-Genuine Respect For The Courage Of This Man, Who Claimed three 
 Countries And Disgraced each One At Intervals In turn.  We Did Not Go 
 So Fast As He.  We Were Not So Enamored of The Risks The Dark Contained. 
   
   
 Suddenly There Came Out Of The Blackness Just Ahead A Marrow-Curdling 
 Cry--Agony, Rage, And Desperation--That Surely No Human Ever 
 Uttered--Roar, Yelp Of Pain, And Battle-Cry In one. 
   
   
 "Help!" Yelled coutlass.  "Help!  Oh-Ah!  Ah!" 
   
   
 We Raced forward Then, I Leading With My Rifle Thrust Forward.  A 
 Second Later I Fired;  And That Was The Only Time In my Life I Ever 
 Touched a Lion'S Face With A Rifle Muzzle Before I Pulled the Trigger! 
 The Brute Fell All In a Heap, With Coutlass Underneath Him And The 
 Greek'S Long Knife Stuck In his Shoulder To The Hilt.  The Lion Must 
 Have Died within The Minute Without My Shot To Finish Him. 
   
   
 Coutlass Lay Dead Under The Defeated beast That Had Crawled away To 
 Hide And Lick His Wounds.  We Dragged his Body Out From Under, And In 
 Proof That Schillingschen, The Common Enemy, Lived, A Bullet Came 
 Whistling Between Us.  The Flash Of My Shot Had Given Him Direction. 
 Perhaps He Could See Us, Too, Against The Moon.  We Ducked, And Lay 
 Still, But No More Shots Came. 
   
   
 "He'S Only Got Four Left," Will Whispered.  "Maybe He'Ll Husband Those!" 
   
   
 "Maybe He Knows By Now That Box Is Empty!" Said I.  "He'Ll Stalk Us On 
 The Way Back!" 
   
   
 "Us For The Tree, Then, Until Morning!" Said Will. 
   
   
 "Sure!" I Answered.  "And Be Shot Out Of It Like Crows Out Of A Nest!" 
   
   
 But Will Had The Right Idea For All That.  He Was Merely Getting at It 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 379 
 In His Own Way.  After A Little Whispering We Went To Work With Fevered 
 Fingers, Stripping Off The Bloody Bandages We Had Tied on The Greek'S 
 Ribs--Stripping Off More Of His Clothes--Then More Of Ours--Tying Them 
 All Into One--Then Skinning The Mangled lion With The Long Knife That 
 Had Really Ended his Career, Tearing The Hide Into Strips And Knotting 
 Them Each To Each.  In twenty Minutes We Had A Slippery, Smeary, Smelly 
 Rope Of Sorts.  In five More We Had Dragged the Greek'S Dead Body 
 Underneath The Tree. 
   
   
 Then I Went Back To The Vantage Point Among The Rocks And Waited until 
 Will Had Thrown The Rope With A Stone Tied to Its End Over An Upper 
 Branch.  Presently I Saw Coutlass' Dead Body Go Clambering Ungracefully 
 Up Among The Branches, Looking So Much Less Dead Than Alive That I 
 Thought At First Will Must Have Tangled the Rope In the Crotch Of The 
 Tree And Be Clambering Up To Release It. 
   
   
 The Ruse Worked.  Georges Coutlass Served us Dead As Well As Living. 
 Out Of The Darkness To My Left There Came A Flash And A Report.  I Did 
 Not Look To See Whether The Corpse In the Tree Jerked as The Bullet 
 Struck.  Before The Flash Had Died--Almost Before The Crack Of The 
 Report Bad Reached my Ear-Drums I Answered with Three Shots In quick 
 Succession. 
   
   
 "Did You Get Him?" Called will. 
   
   
 "I Don'T Know," I Answered.  "If I Didn'T, He'S Only Got Three 
 Cartridges Left!" 
   
   
 We Left The Greek'S Body In the Tree For Schillingschen To Shoot At 
 Further If Be Saw Fit;  It Was Safer There From Marauding animals Than 
 If We Had Laid It On The Ground, And As For The Rites Of The Dead, It 
 Was A Toss-Up Which Was Better, Kites And Vultures, Or Jackals And The 
 Ants.  We Saw No Sense That Night In laboring With A Knife And Our 
 Hands To Bury A Body That The Brutes Would Dig Up Again Within Five 
 Minutes Of Our Leaving It. 
   
   
 "Schillingschen Has Three Cartridges,"' Sad Will. "One Each For You, Me 
 And Fred oakes!  I'Ll Stay And Trick Him Some More.  I'Ll Think Up A 
 New Plan.  I Don'T Care If He Gets Me.  I'D Hate To Face Fred without 
 My Rifle, And Have To Tell Him The Enemy Is Laying For Him With It 
 Through My Carelessness." 
   
   
 It Was My First Experience Of Will With Hysteria, For It Amounted to 
 That.  I Remembered that To Cure A Bevy Of School-Girls Of It One 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 380 
 Should Rap Out Something Sharply, With A Cane If Need be.  Yet Will Was 
 Not Like A School-Girl, And His Hysteria Took The Pseudo-Manly Form Of 
 Refusal To Retreat.  I Yearned for Fred'S Camp-Fires, And Fred'S Laugh, 
 Hot Supper, Or Breakfast, Or Whatever The Meal Would Be, And Blankets. 
 Will, With A Ruthless Murderer Stalking Him In the Dark, Yearned only 
 For Self-Contentment.  All At Once I Saw The Thing To Do, And Thrust My 
 Rifle In his Hands. 
   
   
 "Take It," I Said.  "Hunt Schillingschen All Night If You Want To.  I'M 
 Going Back To Tell Fred i'Ve Lost My Rifle, And Was Afraid To Face You 
 For Fear You'D Laugh At Me.  Go On--Take It!  No, You'Ve Got To Take 
 It!" 
   
   
 I Let The Rifle Fall At His Feet, And He Was Forced to Pick It Up.  By 
 That Time I Was On My Way, And He Had To Hurry If He Hoped to Catch Me. 
  I Kept Him Hurrying--Cursing, And Calling Out To Wait.  And So, Hours 
 Later, We Arrived in sight Of Fred'S Fires And Answered his Cheery 
 Challenge: 
   
   
 "Halt There, Or I'Ll Shoot Your Bally Head Off!" 
   
   
 Lions Had Kept Him Busy Making The Boys Pile Thornwood On The Fires. 
 He Had Shot Two--One Inside The Enclosure, Where The Brute Had Jumped 
 In A Vain Effort To Reach The Frantic Donkeys.  We Stumbled over The 
 Carcass Of The Other As We Made Our Way Toward The Gate-Gap, And 
 Dragged it In ignominiously By The Tail (Not Such An Easy Task As The 
 Uninitiated might Imagine.) 
   
   
 Once Within The Enclosure I Left Will To Tell Fred his Story As Best 
 Suited him, Fred roaring With Laughter As He Watched will'S Rueful 
 Face, Yet Turning Suddenly On Brown To Curse Him Like A Criminal For 
 Laughing, Too! 
   
   
 "Go And Fetch That Mauser Of Yours, Brown, And Give It To Mr. Yerkes In 
 Place Of What He'S Lost!  Hurry, Please!" 
   
   
 It Was Touch And Go Whether Brown Would Obey.  But He Happened to Be 
 Sober, And Realized that He Had Committed tho Unpermissible Offense. 
 Fred might Laugh At Will All He Chose;  So Might I; Either Of Us Might 
 Laugh Fred out Of Countenance;  Or They Might Howl Derisively At Me. 
 But Brown, Camp-Fellow Though He Was, And Not Bad Fellow Though He Was, 
 Was Not Of Our Inner-Guard.  He Might Laugh With, Never At, Especially 
 When Catastrophe Brought Inner Feelings To The Surface. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 381 
 "Take The Shot-Gun If You Care To," Fred told Him, As He Passed will 
 The Rifle. "I'Ll Unlock The Chop-Box Presently, And Let You Have Some 
 Whisky!" 
   
   
 This Last Was The Cruellest Cut, But It Did Brown Good.  When Fred kept 
 His Promise And Produced a Whole Bottle From The Locked-Up Store Brown 
 Refused to Touch It, Instead Insulting Him Like A Good Man, Cursing 
 Him--Whisky, Whiskers, Whims And All, Using Language That Fred 
 Good-Naturedly Assured him Was Very Unladylike. 
   
   
 Before Dawn The Boys, Peering Through The Gaps Between The Camp-Fires, 
 To Distinguish Lions If They Could And Give The Alarm Before Another 
 Could Jump In and Do Damage, Swore They Saw Schillingschen, Rifle In 
 Hand, Stalking among The Shadows.  Nothing Could Convince Them They Had 
 Not Seen Him.  They Said He Stooped like A Man In a Dream--That Big 
 Beard Was Matted, And His Shirt Torn--That He Strode Out Of Darkness 
 Into Darkness Like A Man Whose Mind Was Gone.  We Purposely Laughed at 
 Their Story, To See If We Could Shake Them In it.  But They Laughed at 
 Our Incredulity. 
   
   
 "My Eyes Are Good Eyes" Answered kazimoto.  "What I See I See!  Why 
 Should I Invent Lies?" 
   
   
 It Was Not Pleasant To Imagine Schillingschen, Mind Gone Or Not, With 
 Or Without Three Cartridges And A Rifle, Prowling about Our Camp 
 Awaiting Opportunity To Do Murder. 
   
   
 "Come To Think Of It," Said Fred, "We'Ve No Proof He Hasn'T A Lot More 
 Than Three Cartridges.  It'S Hardly Likely, But He Might Have Cached 
 Some In reserve Near Where We Found His Camp Pitched.  More Unlikely 
 Things Have Happened.  But The Bally Man Must Go To Sleep Some Time. 
 He Seems To Have Been Awake Ever Since He Escaped.  We'Ll Be Off At 
 Dawn, And Either Tire Him Out Or Leave Him!" 
   
   
 "I'Ll Bet He'S Got One Or More Of Those Donkeys," I Answered.  "He'Ll 
 Not Be So Easy To Tire." 
   
   
 "Suppose You And Will Go And Sleep," Suggested fred.  "Otherwise We'Ll 
 All Go Crazy, And All Get Left Behind!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 15 (The Song Of The Dark-Lords) Pg 382 
 There Did Not Remain Much Time For Sleeping.  The Porters, Being Used 
 To The Tents And Their Loads Now, Got Away To A Good Start, Heading 
 Straight Toward The Frowning Pile Of Elgon That Hove Its Great Hump 
 Against A Blue Sky And Domineered over The World To The Northward. 
   
   
 There Were Plenty Of Villages, Well Filled with Timid Spear-Men And 
 Hard-Working Naked wives.  Now That We Had Trade Goods In plenty There 
 Was No Difficulty At All About Making Friends With Them.  They Had Two 
 Obsessing Fears:  That It Might Not Rain In proper Season, And "The 
 People" As They Called themselves Would "Have Too Much Hunger";  And 
 That The Men From The Mountain Might Come And Take Their Babies. 
   
   
 "Which Men, From What Mountain?" 
   
   
 "Bad Men, From Very High Up On That Mountain!"  They Pointed toward 
 Elgon, Shuddered, And Looked away. 
   
   
 "Why Should They Take Your Babies?" 
   
   
 "They Eat Them!" 
   
   
 "What Makes You Think That?" 
   
   
 "We Know It!  They Come!  Once In so Often They Come And Fight With Us, 
 And Take Away, And Kill And Eat Our Fat Babies!" 
   
   
 All The Inhabitants Of All The Villages Agreed.  None Of Them Had Ever 
 Ventured on The Mountain;  But All Agreed that Very Bad Black Men Came 
 Raiding From The Upper Slopes At Uncertain Intervals.  There Was No 
 Variation Of The Tale. 
   
   
 One Thing Puzzled us Much More Than The Cannibal Story.  We Heard 
 Shooting a Long Way Off Behind Us To Our Right--Two Shots, Followed by 
 The Unmistakable Ringing Echo Among Growing Trees.  Had Schillingschen 
 Decided to Desert Us?  And If So, How Did He Dare Squander Two Of His 
 Three Cartridges At Once--Supposing He Were Not Now Mad, As Our Boys, 
 And His, All Vowed he Was?  His Own Ten Men Began To Beg To Be 
 Protected from Him, And The Captured baganda Recommended in best 
 Missionary English That We Seek The Services Of The First Witch Doctor 
 We Could Find. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 16 (The Song Of The Elephants) Pg 383 
 Who Is As Heavy As We, Or As Strong? 
         Ho! But We Trample The Shambas Down! 
 Saw Ye A Swath Where The Trash Lay Long 
         And Tall Trees Flat Like A Harvest Mown? 
 That Was The Path We Shore In haste 
         (Judge, Is It Easy To Find, And Wide!) 
 Ripping The Branch And Bough To Waste 
         Like Rocks Shot Loose From A Mountain Side! 
 Therefore Hear Us: 
   
   
 (All Together, Stamping Steadily In time.) 
   
   
         'Twas We Who Lonely Echoes Woke 
         To Copy The Crash Of The Trees We Broke! 
         Goad, Nor Whip, Nor Wheel, Nor Yoke 
         Shall Humble The Will Of The Ivory Folk! 
   
   
 Once We Were Monarchs From Sky To Sky, 
         Many Were We And The Men Were Few; 
 Then We Would Go To The Place To Die-- 
         Elephant Tombs* That The Oldest Knew,-- 
 Old As The Trees When The Prime Is Past, 
         Lords Unchallenged of Vale And Plain, 
 Grazing aloof And Alone At Last 
         To Lie Where The Oldest Had Always Lain. 
 So We Sing Of It: 
   
   
 ----------------------------- 
 * The Legendary Place That Every Ivory Hunter Hopes Some Day To Stumble 
 On, Where Elephants Are Said To Have Gone Away To Die Of Old Age, And 
 Where There Should Therefore Be Almost Unimaginable Wealth Of Ivory. 
 The Legend, Itself As Old As African Speech, Is Probably Due To The 
 Rarity Of Remains Of Elephants That 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 16 (The Song Of The Elephants) Pg 384 
 Have Died a Natural Death. 
 ------------------------------ 
   
   
 (All Together, Swinging From Side To Side In time, And Tossing Trunks.) 
   
   
         'Twas We Who Lonely Echoes Woke 
         To Copy The Crash Of The Trees We Broke! 
         Goad, Nor Whip, Nor Wheel, Nor Yoke 
         Shall Govern The Strength Of The Ivory Folk! 
   
   
 Still We Are Monarchs! Our Strength And Weight 
         Can Flatten The Huts Of The Frightened men! 
 But The Glory Of Smashing Is Lost Of Late, 
         We Raid Less Eagerly Now Than Then, 
 For Pits Are Staked, And The Traps Are Blind, 
         The Guns Be Many, The Men Be More; 
 We Fidget With Pickets Before And Behind, 
         Who Snoozed in the Noonday Heat Of Yore. 
 Yet, Hear Us Sing: 
   
   
 (All Together, Ears Up And Trunks Extended.) 
   
   
         'Twas We Who Lonely Echoes Woke 
         To Copy The Crash Of The Trees We Broke! 
         Goad, Nor Whip, Nor Wheel, Nor Yoke 
         Have Lessened the Rage Of The Ivory Folk! 
   
   
 Still We Are Monarchs Of Field And Stream! 
         None Is As Strong Or As Heavy As We! 
 We Scent--We Swerve--We Come--We Scream-- 
         And The Men Are As Mud 'Neath Tusk And Knee! 
 But We Go No More To The Place To Die, 
         For The Blacks Head Off And The Guns Pursue; 
 Bleaching Our Scattered rib-Bones Lie, 
         And Men Be Many, And We Be Few. 
 Nevertheless: 
   
   
 (All Together, Trunks Up-Thrown, Ears Extended, And Stamping In slow 
 Time With The Fore-Feet.) 
   
   
         'Twas We Who Lonely Echoes Woke 
         To Copy The Crash Of The Trees We Broke! 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 16 (The Song Of The Elephants) Pg 385 
         Goad, Nor Whip, Nor Wheel, Nor Yoke 
         Shall Humble The Pride Of The Ivory Folk! 
   
   
 We Had Laughed at Fred'S Suggestion That Schillingschen Might Have 
 Ammunition Cached away.  Fred had Sneered at My Guess That The German 
 Might Ride Donkey-Back And Not Be So Easily Left Behind.  Now The 
 Probability Of Both Suggestions Seemed to Stiffen Into Reality. 
   
   
 Day Followed day, And Schillingschen, Squandering Cartridges Not Far 
 Away Behind Us, Always Had More Of Them.  He Seemed, Too, To Lose 
 Interest In keeping So Extremely Close To Us, As We Raced to Get Away 
 From Him Toward The Mountain.  If He Was Really Crazy, As His Trembling 
 Boys Maintained, Then For A Crazy Man Blazing at Everything Or Nothing 
 He Was Shooting Remarkably Little.  On The Contrary, If He Was Sane, 
 And Shooting For The Pot, Be Must Have Acquired a Big Following In some 
 Mysterious Manner, Or Else Have Lost His Marksmanship When Coutlass 
 Bruised his Eyes.  He Fired each Day, Judging By The Echo Of The Shots, 
 About As Many Cartridges As We Did, Who Had To Feed a Fairly Long 
 Column Of Men, And Make Presents Of Meat, In addition, To The Chiefs Of 
 Villages.  It Began To Be A Mystery How He Carried so Much Ammunition, 
 Unless He Had Donkeys Or Porters. 
   
   
 Soon We Began To Pass Through A Country Where Elephants Bad Been. 
 There Was Ruin A Hundred yards Wide, Where A Herd Of More Than A 
 Thousand Of Them Must Have Swept In panic For Fifteen Miles.  There 
 Were Villages With Roofs Not Yet Re-Thatched, Whose Inhabitants Came 
 And Begged us To Take Vengeance On The Monsters, Showing Us Their 
 Trampled enclosures, Torn-Down Huts, And Ruined plantations.  They 
 Offered to Do Whatever We Told Them In the Way Of Taking Part, And 
 Several Times We Marshaled the Men Of Two Or Three Villages Together In 
 An Effort To Get A Line To Windward And Drive The Herd Our Way. 
   
   
 But Each Time, As The Plan Approached development, Ringing Shots From 
 Behind Us Put The Brutes To Flight.  It Became Uncanny--As If 
 Schillingschen In his New Mad Mood Was Able To Divine Exactly When His 
 Noise Would Work Most Harm.  Our Fool Boys Told The Local Natives That 
 A Madman Was On Our Heels, And After That All Offers Of Help Ceased, 
 Even From Those Who Had Suffered most From The Elephants.  We Began To 
 Be Regarded as Mad Ourselves.  Efforts To Get Natives To Go Scouting To 
 Watch Schillingschen, And Report To Us, Were Met With Point-Blank 
 Refusal.  Rumor Began To Precede Us, And From One Village That Had 
 Suffered more Than Usually Badly From Passing Elephants The Inhabitants 
 All Fled at The First Sign Of Brown, Leading Our Long Single Column. 
   
   
 We Followed the Herd.  Its Track Was Wide, And Easier Than The Winding 
 Native Foot-Paths;  And We Were Willing Enough To Jettison Loads Of 
 Trade-Goods If Only We Could Replace Them With Tusks.  The Chase Led up 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 16 (The Song Of The Elephants) Pg 386 
 Toward Elgon, Over The Shoulder Of An Outlying Spur, And Upward Toward 
 The Mountain'S Eastern Slopes. 
   
   
 As Long As We Kept In the Wake Of The Herd The Going Presented no 
 Difficulties.  We Knew By The State Of The Tracks And The Dung That The 
 Herd Was Never Far Ahead.  Frequently We Heard Them Crashing Through 
 Trees In front Of Us.  Yet Whenever We Came So Close As To Hope For A 
 View, And A Shot At A Tusker, Invariably A Regular Fusillade From The 
 Eastward To Our Rear Would Start The Herd Stampeding With A Din Like 
 All The Avalanches. 
   
   
 Streams By The Dozen Flowed down From The Mountain'S Sides, Their Banks 
 Crushed into Bog Where The Elephants Had Crossed.  Our Donkeys Grew 
 Used to Being Tied by The Head In line And Hauled across (For In common 
 With All Herds Of Donkeys, There Were A Few Of Them That Swam Readily, 
 And Many That Either Could Not Or Refused).  The Flies In the Wake Of 
 The Elephants Were Worse Than The Tetse That Haunted the Shore Of 
 Nyanza. 
   
   
 We Had No Trouble Now From Our Boys.  We Could Even Let The Baganda'S 
 Hands Loose.  They Feared the Cannibals Of The Higher Slopes, But Were 
 Much More Afraid Of The Madman To Our Right Rear.  Our Difficulty Lay 
 In Compelling Them To Keep A Course Sufficiently To Eastward, And In 
 Calling a Halt Each Day Before Men And Animals Were Too Utterly Tired 
 Out.  Yet For All Their Hurry, We Did Not Gain On The Man Who Made Them 
 So Afraid. 
   
   
 Elephants, Once Thoroughly Seared, Will Ran Away Forever.  Our Boys 
 Openly Praised the Herd In front For Its Speed and Stamina, Hoping It 
 Would Continue On Its Course And Oblige Us To Keep The Madman With The 
 Rifle At A Safe Distance To Our Rear.  But It Seemed he Had An Easier 
 Line Than We, Or Else His Frenzy Gave Him Seven-League Boots, For He 
 Even Began To Gain On Us, Keeping along Our Right Flank At A Distance 
 Of Several Miles, And Driving Us Nearly Mad In the Frantic Effort To 
 Keep Our Column From Turning and Running away To The Westward.  If We 
 Had Relaxed our Vigilance For A Moment They Would Have Broken Line And 
 Fled. 
   
   
 It Was Old Volcanic Country We Were Marching Through, Densely Wooded, 
 Virgin Forest For The Most Part, With Earth So Warm At Times That It 
 Was Not Easy To Believe The Crater Of Elgon Quite Extinct.  Even At 
 That Low Level We Came On Blow-Holes Nearly Filled in with Dirt And 
 Trash, Serving as Fine Caves For Beasts Of Prey.  We Went Into One For 
 About Three Hundred paces Before It Narrowed into Nothing, And Would 
 Have Camped in it But For The Stink.  It Smelt Like A Place Where The 
 Egg Of Original Sin Had Turned rotten.  Fred said That Was Sulphur, 
 With The Air Of A Man Who Would Like It Believed that He Knew. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 16 (The Song Of The Elephants) Pg 387 
 At Last The Enemy Must Have Made A Night March, For He Passed us, And 
 The Following Dawn We Heard Him Shooting To Our Right In front.  That 
 Morning It Was Simply Impossible To Make The Boys Break Camp.  They 
 Swore That The Ghost Of Schillingschen Had Gone In league With The 
 Elephants To Destroy Us, And They Preferred to Be Shot By Us Rather 
 Than Murdered by Witchcraft. 
   
   
 Beyond Doubt They Would Have Bolted and Left Us Had That Camp Not Been 
 An Almost Perfect One, On Rising Ground With Two Great Wings Of Rock 
 Almost Enclosing It, And A Singing Brook Galloping Through The Midst. 
 There Was Only One Gap By Which Elephant Or Man Could Enter (Unless 
 They Should Fall From The Sky), And They Closed that By Rolling Rocks 
 And Dragging Up Trunks Of Trees. 
   
   
 After A Useless Argument, During Which We All Lost Our Tempers And They 
 Were Reduced to The Verge Of Panic, We Decided to Leave Them There In 
 Charge Of Brown And Those Porters, Except Kazimoto, Who Had Rifles. 
 The Armed men Promised faithfully To Die Beside Brown In the Only Place 
 Of Exit Rather Than Permit A Man To Pass Out; And The Rest All Agreed 
 It Would Be Right To Shoot Them If They Attempted to Desert;  But We 
 Left The Camp Together--Fred, Will, I, And Kazimoto, With Will'S 
 Personal Servant And Mine Bringing Up The Rear--Wondering Whether We 
 Should Ever See Any Member Or Part Of The Outfit Again.  It Felt Like 
 Going To A Funeral--Or Rather From It--More Than Likely Brown'S. 
   
   
 Kazimoto And The Other Two Should Have Been Carrying Spare Rifles;  But 
 Brown Had Refused to Remain Behind Unless We Left Him All But The One 
 Apiece We Absolutely Needed.  We Took The Boys More From Habit Than For 
 Any Use They Were Likely To Be;  And My Boy And Will'S Bolted back To 
 The Camp Almost Before We Were Out Of Sight Of It, Kazimoto Begging Us 
 To Shoot Them In the Back For Cowards. 
   
   
 "Huh!" He Grunted.  "They Are Afraid Of Death.  Teach Them What Death 
 Is!" 
   
   
 We Heard Brown Challenge Them As They Approached the Camp, And Hoped he 
 Thrashed them Soundly.  But It Turned out He Did Not.  He Himself Had 
 Grown Afraid;  For The Fear Of A Crowd Is Contagious, And Spreads 
 Nearly As Readily From Black To White As From White To Black.  He Broke 
 Open A Chop-Box And Consoled himself With Whisky. 
   
   
 Forcing Our Way Through Vegetation That Crowded around A Spur Of 
 Volcanic Rock, It Soon Became Evident That The Whole Of The Huge Herd 
 Was Breakfasting Not Far In front Of Us, Tearing Off Limbs Of Trees, 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 16 (The Song Of The Elephants) Pg 388 
 And Crashing about As If Noise Were The Only Object.  We Climbed and 
 Attempted to Look Down On Them, Only To Discover That The Part Of The 
 Forest Where We Were Consisted of A Narrow Belt, With A Mile-Wide Open 
 Space Beyond It Between Us And The Elephants.  The Wind Was From Them 
 Toward Us, But That Did Not Wholly Account For The Amount Of Noise That 
 Reached us.  It Was The Fact That The Herd Was Twice As Big As We 
 Imagined.  There Were Elephants In every Direction.  We Could See And 
 Hear Branches Breaking With Reports Like Cannon-Fire. 
   
   
 Kazimoto Was As Steady As An Old Soldier, A Great Grin Spreading across 
 His Ugly Honest Face, And His Eyes Alight With Enthusiasm.  This Was 
 The Profession He Had Followed when He Was Courtney'S Gun-Bearer, And 
 He Kept Close To Fred with A Handful Of Cartridges Ready To Pass To 
 Him, Whispering Wise Counsel. 
   
   
 "Get Close To Them, Bwana!  Go Close!  Go Close!  Wind Coming Our 
 Way--Smell Coming Our Way--Noise Coming Our Way--Elephant Very Busy 
 Eating--No Hurry!  No Long Shooting!  Go Right Up Close!" 
   
   
 It Was Easier Said Than Done.  The Elephants Had Spread Broadcast 
 Through The Forest, And There Was No Longer One Well-Defined swath To 
 Follow, But A Very Great Number Of Twisting Narrow Alleys Through 
 Elastic Undergrowth Between Great Unyielding Trees.  We Had To 
 Separate, To Gain Any Advantage From Our Number, So That We Emerged 
 Into The Open More Than A Hundred yards Apart, With Fred at The Far 
 Left And Will In the Center.  Fred, With Kazimoto Close At His Heels, 
 Was More Than Fifty Yards In front Of Either Of Us. 
   
   
 And Crossing That Mile Of Open Land Was No Simple Business.  It Was A 
 Mass Of Rocks And Tree-Roots, Burned over In some Swift-Running Forest 
 Fire And Not Yet Reseeded, Nor Yet Rotted down.  There Were Winding 
 Ways All Across It By The Dozen That The Elephants, With Their Greater 
 Height And Better Woodcraft, Could Follow On The Run, But Great Stumps 
 And Rocks Higher Than A Man'S Head (That From A Distance Had Looked 
 Like Level Land) Blocked all Vision And Made Progress Mostly Guesswork. 
   
   
 However, The Latter Half-Mile Was More Like Level Going--I Emerged from 
 Between Two Boulders, Wondering Whether I Could Ever Find My Way Back 
 Again, And Envied fred, Who Had Found A Better Track And Had The Lead 
 Of Me Now By Several Hundred yards.  Will Was As Far Behind Him As I, 
 But Had Gone Over More To The Left, Leaving Me--Feeling Remarkably 
 Lonely--Away In the Rear To The Right. 
   
   
 Kazimoto Followed fred so Closely, Stooping Low Behind Him, That The 
 Two Looked like Some Strange Four-Legged beast.  They Were Headed for 
 The Forest In front Of Them At A Great Pace, Increasing Their Lead From 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 16 (The Song Of The Elephants) Pg 389 
 Will, Who, Like Me, Was More Or Less Winded.  I Stooped at A Pool To 
 Scoop Up Water And Splash My Face And Neck.  When I Looked up A Moment 
 Later I Could See None Of Them. 
   
   
 At That Instant, When I Could Actually Smell The Great Brutes Crashing 
 In The Forest, Unseen Within A Hundred yards Of Me, And Would Have 
 Given All I Had Or Hoped for Just To Have A Friend Within Speaking 
 Distance, A Shot Rang Out In the Forest Ahead, And Rattled from Tree To 
 Tree Like The Echo Of A Skirmish.  It Was Not From Fred'S Gun, Or 
 Will'S.  It Was The Phantom Rifleman At Work Again. 
 Schillingschen--Schillingschen'S Ghost--Or Whoever He Was, He Could Not 
 Have Timed his Fusillade Better For Our Undoing.  The First Shot Was 
 Followed by Six More In swift Succession.  And Then Chaos Broke Loose. 
   
   
 Toward Where I Stood, From Every Angle To My Front, The Whole Herd 
 Stampeded.  No Human Being Could Have Guessed their Number.  The Forest 
 Awoke With A Battle-Din Of Falling Trees And Crashing Undergrowth, 
 Split Apart By The Trumpeting Of Angry Bulls And The Screams Of Cows 
 Summoning Their Young Ones.  The Earth Shook Under The Weight Of Their 
 Tremendous Rout.  I Heard Fred'S Rifle Ring Out Three Times Far To My 
 Left--Then Will'S A Rifle Nearer To Me;  And At That The Herd Swung 
 Toward Its Own Left, And The Whole Lot Of Them Came Full-Pelt, Blind, 
 Screaming, Frantic, Straight For Me. 
   
   
 There Was No Turning Them Now. None But The Very Farthest On The Flank 
 Could Have Turned, Given Sense Enough Left To Do It.  It Was A Flood Of 
 Maddened monsters, Crazed with Fear, Pent By Their Own Numbers, Forced 
 Forward By The Crowd Behind, That Invited me To Dam Them If I Could! 
 As They Burst Into The Open, More Shots Rang Out In the Forest To Lend 
 Their Fury Wings! 
   
   
 I Glanced behind, To Right And Left, But There Was No Escape, I Had 
 Come Too Far Into The Open To Retreat!  There Were Big Rocks To The 
 Rear To Have Scrambled on, But There Was No Time.  There Was One Big 
 Rock In front Of Me That Divided their Course About In halves;  To Pass 
 It They Must Open Up, Although They Would Almost Surely Close Again.  I 
 Took My Stand In line With That, As A Man On Trial For Life Takes 
 Refuge Behind An Unestablishable Alibi. 
   
   
 They Talk Glibly About Men'S Whole Lives Passing In review Before Them 
 In The Instant Of A Crisis.  That May Be.  That Was A Crisis, And I Saw 
 Elephants--Elephants!  I Remembered some Of What Courtney Had Told 
 Us--Some Of The Mad Yarns Coutlass Spun When Liquor And The Camp-Fire 
 Made Him Boastful.  All The Advice I Ever Heard;  All My Previous 
 Imaginings Of What I Should Do When Such A Time Came, Seemed to Be 
 Condensed into One Concrete Demand--Shoot, Shoot, Shoot, And Keep On 
 Shooting!  Yet My Finger, Bent Around The Trigger, Absolutely Would Not 
 Act! 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 16 (The Song Of The Elephants) Pg 390 
 The Oncoming Gray Wave Of Brutes Split Apart At The Rock, As It Must 
 Do, Some Of Them Screaming as They Crashed into It Breast On And Were 
 Crushed by The Crowd Behind.  In the Van Of The Right-Hand Wing, 
 Brushing The Rock With His Shoulder, Charged an Enormous Bull With 
 Tusks So Large That The Heavier Had Weighed down His Head To A 
 Permanent Rakish Angle.  He Caught Sight Of Me--Trumpeted like A Siren 
 In The Channel Fog--And Came At Me With Raised ears And Trunk 
 Outstretched.  I Heard Shooting To The Left, And More Shots From The 
 Forest, Where The Very Active Ghost Or Madman Was Keeping Up A Battle 
 Of His Own.  I Felt The Fear, That Turns A Man'S Very Heart To Ice, 
 Grip Hold Of Me--Felt As If Nothing Mattered--Imagined the Whole 
 Universe A Sea Of Charging Elephants--Accepted the Inevitable--And 
 Suddenly Received my Manhood Back Again!  My Forefinger Acted!  I Fired 
 Point-Blank Down The Throat Of The Charging Bull.  And It Seemed to 
 Have No More Effect On Him Than A Pea-Shooter Has On A Railroad Train! 
   
   
 I Had Left Schillingschen'S Heavy-Bored elephant Gun Behind With Brown, 
 Considering It Too Cumbersome, And Was Using a Mauser With Flat-Nosed 
 Bullets.  I Fired four Shots As Fast As I Could Pump Them From The 
 Magazine Straight Down The Monster'S Hot Red throat;  And He Continued 
 To Come On As If I Had Not Touched him, Hard-Pressed on Either Flank By 
 Bulls Nearly As Big As He. 
   
   
 Perhaps The Reason Why My Past History Did Not Flash Review Was That My 
 Time Was Not Yet Come!  I Continued to See Elephant--Nothing But 
 Elephant!--Little Bloodshot Eyes Aflame With Frenzy--Great Tusks 
 Upthrown--A Trunk Upraised to Brain Me--Huge Flat Feet That Raged to 
 Tread Me Down And Knead Me Into Purple Mud!  I Kept The Last Shot With 
 A Coolness I Believe Was Really Numbness--Then Felt His Hot Breath Like 
 A Blast On My Face, And Let Him Have It, Straight Down The Throat Again! 
   
   
 He Screamed--Stopped--Quivered right Over Me--Toppled from The 
 Knees--And Fell Like A Landslide, Pushed forward As He Tumbled by The 
 Weight Behind, And Held From Rolling Sidewise By The Living Tide On 
 Either Flank.  I Tried to Spring Back, But His Falling Trunk Struck Me 
 To Earth.  On Either Side Of Me A Huge Tusk Drove Into The Ground, And 
 I Lay Still Between Them, As Safe As If In bed, While The Herd Crashed 
 Past To Right And Left For So Many Minutes That It Seemed all The 
 Universe Was Elephants--Bulls, Cows And Calves All Trumpeting In mad 
 Desire To Get Away--Away--Anywhere At All So Be It Was Not Where They 
 Then Were. 
   
   
 Blood Poured on Me From The Dead Brute'S Throat--Warm, Slippery, Sticky 
 Stuff;  But I Lay Still.  I Did Not Move When The Crashing Had All Gone 
 By, But Lay Looking Up At The Monster That Had Willed his Worst And, 
 Seeking To Slay, Had Saved me.  Those Are The Moments When Young Men 
 Summon All Their Calf-Philosophy.  I Wondered what The Difference Was 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 16 (The Song Of The Elephants) Pg 391 
 Between That Brute And Me, That I Should Be Justified in slaying;  That 
 I Should Be Congratulated;  That I Should Have Been Pitied, Had The 
 Touch-And-Go Reversed itself And He Killed me.  I Knew There Was A 
 Difference That Had Nothing To Do With Shape, Or Weight, Or Size, But I 
 Could Not Give It A Name Or Lay My Finger On It. 
   
   
 My Reverie, Or Reaction, Or Whatever It Was, Was Broken By Fred'S 
 Voice, Flustered and Out Of Breath, Coming Nearer At A Great Pace. 
   
   
 "I Tell You The Poor Chap'S Dead As A Door-Nail!  He'S Under That Great 
 Bull, I Tell You!  He'S Simply Been Charged and Flattened out!  What A 
 Dog I Was--What A Green-Horn--What A Careless, Fat-Headed tomfool To 
 Leave Him Alone Like That!  He Was The Least Experienced of All Of Us, 
 And We Let Him Take The Full Brunt Of A Charging Herd!  We Ought To Be 
 Hung, Drawn And Quartered!  I Shall Never Forgive Myself!  As For You, 
 Will, It Wasn'T Half As Much Your Fault As Mine!  You Were Following 
 Me.  You Expected me To Give The Orders, And I Ought To Have Called a 
 Halt Away Back There Until We Were All Three In touch!  I'Ll Never 
 Forgive Myself--Never!" 
   
   
 I Crawled out Then From Between The Tusks, And Shook Myself, Much More 
 Dazed than I Expected, And Full Of An Unaccountable Desire To Vomit. 
   
   
 "Damn Your Soul!" Fred fairly Yelled at Me.  "What The Hell D'You Mean 
 By Startling Me In that Way!  Why Aren'T You Dead?  Look Out!  What'S 
 The Matter With The Man?  The Poor Chap'S Hurt--I Knew He Was!" 
   
   
 But That Inexplicable Desire To Empty All I Had Inside Me Out On To The 
 Trampled ground Could No Longer Be Resisted, That Was All.  The 
 Aftermath Of Deadly Fear Is Fear'S Corollary.  Each Bears Fruit After 
 Its Kind. 
   
   
 To My One Tusker Will And Fred had Brought Down Five And Six 
 Respectively.  That Made Twenty-Three Tusks, For One Was An Enormous 
 "Singleton."  We Sent Kazimoto Back Alone To Try To Persuade Some Of 
 Our Porters To Come And Chop Out The Ivory With Axes, Bidding Him 
 Promise Them All The Hearts, And As Many Tail-Hairs As They Chose To 
 Pull Out To Keep Witches Away With.  Then, Since My Sickness Passed 
 Presently And Left Me Steady On My Legs, Fred made A Proposal That We 
 Jumped at. 
   
   
 "Let'S Go And Lay Schillingschen'S Ghost!  If That Was Schillingschen 
 Shooting In the Forest, We'Ve A Little Account With Him!  If It Wasn'T 
 I Want To Know It!  Come Along!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 16 (The Song Of The Elephants) Pg 392 
 We Advanced into The Forest And Toiled up-Hill Along The Tracks The 
 Stampeding Elephants Had Made, Amid Flies Indescribable, And Almost 
 Intolerable Heat.  The Blood On My Clothing Made Me A Veritable 
 Feeding-Place Of Flies, Until I Threw Most Of It Off, And Then Began To 
 Suffer In addition From Bites I Could Not Feel Before, And From The 
 Sharp Points Of Beckoning Undergrowth.  My Bare Legs Began To Bleed 
 From Scratches, And The Flies Swooped anew On Those, And Clung As If 
 They Grew There. 
   
   
 Will Climbed a Huge Tree, At Imminent Risk Of Pythons And Rotten 
 Branches, And Descried open Country On Our Right Front.  We Made For 
 It, I Walking Last To Take Advantage Of The Others' Wake, And After 
 More Than An Hour Of Most Prodigious Effort We Emerged on Rolling Rocky 
 Country Under A Ledge That Overhung A Thousand Feet Sheer Above Us On 
 The Side Of Elgon.  To Our Right Was All Green Grass, Sloping away From 
 Us. 
   
   
 There Was A Camp Half A Mile Away Pitched on The Edge Of The Forest--A 
 White Man'S Tent--A Mule--Meat Hanging To Dry In the Wind Under A 
 Branch--Two Tents For Natives--And A Pile Of Bags And Boxes Orderly 
 Arranged.  We Could See A Man Sitting Under A Big Tent Awning.  He Was 
 Reading, Or Writing, Or Something Of That Kind.  He Was Certainly Not 
 Schillingschen.  We Hurried.  Fred presently Broke Into A Run;  Then, 
 Half-Ashamed, Checked himself And Waited for Me, Who Was Beyond Running. 
   
   
 When We Came Quite Close We Saw That The Man Was Playing Chess All By 
 Himself With A Folding Board Open On His Knees.  He Did Not Look Up, 
 Although By That Time He Surely Should Have Heard Us.  Fred began To 
 Walk Quietly, Signaling To The Camp Hangers-On To Say Nothing.  We 
 Followed him Silently In indian File.  As He Came Near The Awning Fred 
 Tip-Toed, And I Felt Like Giggling, Or Yelling--Like Doing anything 
 Ridiculous. 
   
   
 He Who Played chess Yawned suddenly, And Closed the Chess-Board With A 
 Snap.  He Got Up Lazily, Smiled, Stretched himself Like A Great 
 Good-Looking Cat, Faced fred, And Laughed outright. 
   
   
 "Glad To See You All!  Did You Get Many Elephants?" He Asked. 
   
   
 "Monty, You Old Pirate--I Knew It Was You!" Said Fred, Holding a Hand 
 Out. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 16 (The Song Of The Elephants) Pg 393 
 Monty Took It, And Forced him Into The Chair He Had Just Vacated. 
   
   
 "You Damned old Liar!" He Said, Nodding approvingly. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 17 (They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin) Pg 394 
 Now For Opulence And Place 
         And The Increment Unearned 
         We Will Thieve And Stab And Cover It With Perjury, 
 Contemptuous Of Grace 
         And The Lesson Never Learned 
         That The Rules Are Not Amenable To Surgery. 
 We Will Steal A Neighbor'S Tools 
         In the Quest For Easy Cash, 
         Aye, Jump His Claim And Burrow To The Heart Of It, 
 But The Innocents And Fools 
         Get All The Goods, And We The Trash, 
         And That'S The Most Exasperating Part Of It! 
   
   
 Nobody In camp Slept That Night.  When The Tusks Had Been Chopped out, 
 And Our Camp Carried across And Pitched beside Monty'S--Ivory 
 Weighed--Lion-Proof Boma Built--And Elephant-Heart Portioned out To The 
 Men, Who Gorged themselves On It In order That Their Own Hearts Might 
 Grow Great And Strong;  When All The Myriad Matters Had Been Seen To 
 That Make Camping In the Tropics Such A Business, Then There Were Tales 
 To Be Told.  We Demanded monty'S First;  He Ours;  And Because His Was 
 Likely To Be Much The Shortest We Won That Argument. 
   
   
 "Wait One Minute, Though," He Insisted.  "Before I Begin, Have You Any 
 Notion Who A Man With A Beard Could Be--Bruised face-Broken Front 
 Teeth--Mauser Rifle--Big Dark Beard Cut Shovel-Shape--Enormously 
 Powerful By The Look Of His Shoulders And Arms?  I Came On Him Three, 
 No, Four Days' March Back." 
   
   
 "Schillingschen!" We Exclaimed with One Voice. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 17 (They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin) Pg 395 
 "Show Me Schillingschen!" Echoed brown, Who Was Very Drunk By That 
 Time, Nearly Ready To Be Put To Bed.  "Show Me Schillingschen, An' I'Ll 
 Show You A Corpse!" 
   
   
 "He'S Right," Nodded monty.  "The Man'S Dead.  Blew His Brains Out With 
 His Last Cartridge.  Looked to Me To Have Lost Himself.  Slept In 
 Trees, I Should Say.  Clothing all Torn.  Hadn'T Been Dead Long When 
 Some Of My Boys Came On Him And Drove Away The Jackals.  Had He Been In 
 A Fight, Do You Know?" 
   
   
 But We Would Not Tell Him That Tale Until We Had His Own. 
   
   
 "Mine'S Short And Simple," He Began.  "Some Ruffians Boarded my Ship At 
 Suez, Who Made Such Eyes At Me, And So Obviously Intended to Do Me 
 Damage At The First Opportunity, That I Talked it Over With The Captain 
 (Giving Him A Hint Or Two Of The Possible Reason) And He Agreed to Slip 
 Me Off Secretly At Ismailia.  It Was Easy--Middle Of The Night, You 
 Know--Had The Doctor Isolate The Ruffians On The Starboard Side While 
 The Ship Anchored--Some Cooked-Up Excuse About Quarantine--And Kept 'Em 
 Out Of Sight Of What Was Happening Until The Ship Went On Again.  Very 
 Simple." 
   
   
 "Go On, Didums--We'Ll Be All Night Talking--What Did You Do With The 
 King Of Belgium?" Fred demanded. 
   
   
 "Nothing.  Didn'T Go Near The King Of Belgium.  I Was Quarantined at 
 Ismailia On Wholly Imaginary Grounds For Fourteen Days;  And Who Should 
 Come Smiling Into The Same Lazaretto On The Last Day But Frederick 
 Courtney--A Very Old Friend Of Mine!" 
   
   
 "He Was To Go To Somaliland," I Said. 
   
   
 "So He Told Me.  He'S On His Way There Now.  Decided for Reasons Of His 
 Own To Enter The Country By Way Of Abyssinia.  Told Me Of The Advice 
 He'D Given You Fellows, And Assured me He'D Seen King Leopold Himself 
 On The Very Matter Scarcely A Year Before.  Of Course, He Said, I Might 
 Succeed where He Failed, Using Influence And All That Sort Of Thing, 
 But He Assured me Leopold Was Hard To Deal With, And Difficult To Tie 
 Down.  His Advice Was, Go Back To Elgon, And Hunt For The Stuff There." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 17 (They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin) Pg 396 
 "That'S What He Kept Advising Us," Said Will.  "But Why Should He Give 
 Away His Information Free?  And If It'S Good, Where Did He Get It?" 
   
   
 "Courtney'S No Dog In the Manger," Monty Answered.  "He Told Me Of This 
 Man Schillingschen.  Said He Had Sent In a Report About Him To The Home 
 Government, But Couldn'T For The Life Of Him Get Documentary Evidence 
 With Which To Back Up His Charges." 
   
   
 Will Whistled, And Drew Out The Diary He Had Rescued from The Tin Box. 
 Fred nodded.  Will Threw It To Monty, Who Caught It. 
   
   
 "He Told Me This Schillingschen Had Searched the Whole Country Over For 
 The Stuff--Had It Straight From Schillingschen'S Boys--I Dare Say You 
 Know How Courtney Can Make A Native Tell Him All He Knows. 
 Schillingschen, He Said, Had Eliminated pretty Nearly All The Likely 
 Places Until Mount Elgon Was About All There Is Left.  Courtney Said, 
 Too, That There Were Always So Many Thousands Of Elephants Near Elgon 
 That Tippoo Tib Probably Gathered a Harvest There.  We Discussed 
 Probabilities, And Agreed it Wasn'T Likely He Would Carry The Stuff Far 
 In Order To Hide It.  It Seemed likely To Both Of Us, Too, That If The 
 Quantity The Old Man Hid Was Anything Like What Rumor Says, Then There 
 Were Probably Half A Dozen Hiding-Places, Not One.  Most Of The Stuff 
 May Be In the Congo Free State, And We'Ll Do Well To Leave That To 
 Leopold Of Belgium And His Pet Concessionaires.  Some Of It May Be Near 
 Here.  I Stayed in the Lazaretto An Extra Day With Courtney, Talking It 
 Over.  One Other Thing He Remembered to Tell Me Was That Schillingschen 
 Had Hunted high And Low For Tippoo Tib'S Old Servants, And Had Finally 
 Managed to Have The Relatives Of That Man Hassan--I Remember, Fred, You 
 Called him Johnson In zanzibar--Thrown In jail In german East For Some 
 Alleged offense Or Other." 
   
   
 Monty Stopped to Scrape Out A Faithful Pipe, Fill It, Press Down 
 Tobacco With A Practised thumb, And Reach Toward The Campfire For A 
 Burning Brand.  Then He Smoked for Two Minutes Reflectively. 
   
   
 "I Offered courtney A Share Should We Find The Stuff.  Knew You Fellows 
 Would Agree."  Pause.  "Courtney Wouldn'T Hear Of It."  Pause.  "Said 
 Good-By To Him, And Took A Coastwise Trading Steamer Back To Mombasa. 
 Delightful Trip--Put In everywhere--Saw Everything.  Saw A Lot Of The 
 Galla--Fine Tribe, The Galla." 
   
   
 "Suppose You Cut The Travelogue Stuff Until Later On!" Suggested will. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 17 (They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin) Pg 397 
 "Landed at Mombasa, And Learned the First Day That You Fellows Had 
 Managed to Make More Enemies Than Friends.  Put In a Number Of Days On 
 Heavy Social Labor--Lingered at The Club--Drank Too Much Of Their 
 Infernal Gin-And-Black-Pepper Appetizer--But Made You Fellows Right, I 
 Think." 
   
   
 "We'Re Not Interested in the Slumming.  Go On And Tell Us What You 
 Did!" Urged fred. 
   
   
 "That Is What I Did--And Undid.  I Made Friends.  Soon I Had All The 
 Other Junior Officials In a State Of Mind To Help Me If They Could. 
 Then I Began To Inquire For Hassan.  They Drew The Dragnet Tight, And 
 Discovered him At Nairobi!  A Young Assistant District Superintendent 
 Of Police, Who Will Rise In the Service, I Hope, Before Long, 
 Discovered a Woman--Who Was Jealous Of A Man--Who Was Just Then Making 
 Love To The Dusky Damsel Particularly Favored by Hassan;  And In that 
 Roundabout Way We Discovered that Hassan Intended to Take A Trip Very 
 Soon Toward Mount Elgon, Where, If You Please, He Was To Take Part In 
 Professor Schillingschen'S Ethnological Studies.  On Condition That He 
 Held His Tongue Until I Gave Him Leave To Talk, I Promised that Young 
 Policeman--To Put Him En Rapport With Schillingschen'S Doings As 
 Swiftly As May Be.  Then I Returned to Mombasa, And Got Your Code 
 Letter Saying You Would Head This Way.  It All Fitted in like A Game Of 
 Chess." 
   
   
 "How In the World Did You Get That Letter So Soon?" Demanded fred. 
 "The Missionary Chap Was To Mail It In ujiji, Via Salisbury, Rhodesia." 
   
   
 "I Suppose He Simply Didn'T Do That, That'S All," Monty Answered.  "The 
 Bank Manager Told Me He Received it In the Mission Mail Bag--From 
 Ujiji, Yes, But By Way Of Muanza, Tabora, And Dar Es Salaam. It Reached 
 Me In the Nick Of Time.  I Must Have Been Marching Nearly Parallel With 
 You Chaps For About A Week!" 
   
   
 "If Coincidence Of Evidence Means Anything," Said Will "We'Re All On A 
 Red-Hot Scent!  That Baganda We Have In our Outfit Is Our Prisoner. 
 One Of Schillingschen'S Pet Pimps.  He Swears Hassan--Or Rather Some 
 Old Native Whose Name He Doesn'T Know--Was To Meet Schillingschen In 
 These Parts And Lead Him To Where He Actually Helped bury The Ivory, 
 Years Ago!" 
   
   
 "We May Have Difficulty Finding Him," Said I.  "Mount Elgon'S Big!" 
   
   
 "What About Brown?" Asked monty.  "I Hope You Haven'T Made Him Partner? 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 17 (They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin) Pg 398 
  I Agree, Of Course, If You Have, But I Hope Not!" 
   
   
 "Nothing Doing!" 
    
   
 "No.  Why Should We?" 
   
   
 "Brown'S All Right, But A Present Ought To Satisfy Him." 
   
   
 We Began To Tell Monty About Brown'S Cattle That Coutlass Stole, And 
 The Masai Looted from Coutlass And Us. 
   
   
 "Were They Branded?" Asked monty. 
   
   
 "Branded and Hoof- And Ear-Marked," Said I. 
   
   
 "Then They Ought To Be Traceable, Even Among The Huge Herds The Masai 
 Have.  I Think I'Ve Influence Enough By This Time With This Government 
 To Have Those Cattle Traced and Returned to Brown." 
   
   
 "They'Re His Only Love!" Said I.  "Do That For Him, And He'Ll Never 
 Wait To Receive A Present!" 
   
   
 Dawn Found Us Still Recounting Our Adventures And Monty Alternately 
 Laughing and Frowning. 
   
   
 "I Regret Coutlass" He Said, Shaking The Ashes From His Pipe At Last 
 When Kazimoto Brought Our Breakfast.  "I Regretted having To Throw Him 
 Out Of The Hotel In zanzibar.  I Wish He Could Have Escaped with His 
 Life--A Picturesque Scoundrel If Ever There Was One!  I'D Rather Be 
 Robbed by Him Than Flattered by Ten Schillingschens Or Lady Saffren 
 Waldons.  I Suppose If I'D Been With You I'D Have Killed him.  It'S 
 Well I Wasn'T.  I Might Have Regretted it All My Days!" 
   
   
 We Buried our Newly Won Ivory Under A Tree, Locating The Spot Exactly 
 With The Aid Of Monty'S Compass, And Broke Camp, Starting Sleepless Up 
 The Mountain.  As Monty Said: 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 17 (They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin) Pg 399 
 "No Use Meandering around The Mountain.  Hassan Might Be Higher Up Or 
 Lower Down.  If He Is There You May Depend On It He'S Tired of Waiting. 
  He'S Looking For A Safari.  Let'S Climb Where We Can Be Seen From 
 Miles Away." 
   
   
 So Climb We Did, Thousand After Thousand Feet, Until The Night Air Grew 
 So Cold That The Porters' Teeth Chattered and They Threatened to Desert 
 Us.  They Grew Afraid, Too, Remembering The Tales The Villagers Had 
 Told Them Down Below. 
   
   
 "Wow!  You Are Not Fat Babies!" Kazimoto Told Them.  "Who Would Eat 
 Such Stringy Meat As You?" 
   
   
 We Came To Caves That None Of The Men Dared enter--Vast, Gloomy Tunnels 
 Into The Mountain Through Which The Chill Wind Whistled like A Dirge. 
 Yet The Caverns Were Warmer Than The Wind, And Not Bad Camping-Places 
 If We Could Have Persuaded the Boys To Take Advantage Of Them. 
   
   
 The Earth, Too, All Over The Mountain And The Range To Eastward Of It 
 Was Warm In spite Of The Wind.  In places There Were Warm Springs 
 Bubbling From The Rock, And At Night And Early Morning a Blanket Of 
 White Mist That Was Remarkably Like Steam Covered everything.  It Was A 
 Land Of Thunderless Lightning--Lightning From A Clear Sky, Flashing 
 Here And There Without Warning Or Excuse.  On The High Slopes There Was 
 Little Or No Game, And No Signs Whatever Of Inhabitants, Until Late One 
 Afternoon The Porters Shouted, And We Saw An Old Man Racing Toward Us 
 Along The Top Of A Ridge. 
   
   
 He Held His Hands Out, And Shouted as He Ran--A Round-Faced, 
 Big-Bellied man, Although Not Nearly So Fat As When We Saw Him Last; 
 Unclean, Unkempt, In tattered shirt And Crushed-In Fez--A Man With One 
 Desire Expressed all Over Him--To See, And Touch, And Talk With Other 
 Men.  He Ran And Threw Himself At Monty'S Feet, Clasped his Legs, And 
 Blubbered. 
   
   
 "Bwana! Oh, Bwana! Oh, Bwana!" 
   
   
 "Get Up, Johnson!"  Fred took Him By The Arm And Raised him.  "Tell Us 
 What'S The Matter." 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 17 (They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin) Pg 400 
 "Men Who Eat Men!  Men Who Eat Men!  I Had Three Porters To Carry My 
 Tent And Food.  Now I Have None.  They Have Eaten Them!  Now They Hunt 
 Me!" 
   
   
 "Well, You'Re Safe," Said Monty. "Calm Yourself." 
   
   
 "But You Are Not Bwana Schillingschen!  I Am Here To Wait For Him. 
 Have You Seen Him?  Where Is He?" 
   
   
 Fred answered him. "Dead!" 
   
   
 Hassan Threw Himself On The Ground Again At Monty'S Feet. 
   
   
 "Oh, What Shall I Do?" He Blubbered.  "I Am An Old Man.  Who Shall Take 
 My People Out Of Jail?  Who Shall Go To Dar Es Salaam And Make Germans 
 Give Them Up?" 
   
   
 "If You'Re Willing To Show Us What You Intended to Show 
 Schillingschen," Said Monty, "I'Ll Do What I Can For Your Relations." 
   
   
 "What Can You Do?  Oh, What Can You Do?  No Man But A German Can Make 
 These Germans Cease From Punishing!" 
   
   
 Monty Beckoned to The Baganda Who Had Once Done Schillingschen'S Dirty 
 Work. 
   
   
 "D'You See This Man?  This Is A German Spy.  The German Will Be Willing 
 To Hand Over Your Relations In exchange For A Promise Not To Make A 
 Fuss About This Man.  Wait A Minute, Though!  Are Your Relations 
 Criminals?" 
   
   
 "No, Bwana! No, Bwana!  My Relations Honorable Folk!  Formerly Living 
 In Zanzibar--Going To Bagamoyo To Serve In german Family By Invitation 
 Of Person Attached to German Consulate--No Sooner Landed than Thrown In 
 Jail On Charges They Know Nothing Whatever About.  Then Schillingschen 
 He Finding Me, And Say To Me, 'You Show Where Is That Tippoo Tib'S 
 Ivory, And Your Relations Shall Go Free!'  And Tippoo Tib, He Say To 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 17 (They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin) Pg 401 
 Me, 'You Take First Step To Show Any Man Where Is That Ivory, And You 
 Shall Be Fed to White Ants By My Faithful People!' And Schillingschen 
 He Catch Two Of Them Faithful People, And Feed 'Em To White Ants When 
 Nobody Looking That Way!  Schillingschen Terrible!  Tippoo Tib 
 Terrible!  What Shall Do?  Tippoo Tib, He One Time Making Me Go Long 
 Trip With Bwana Coutlass, Very Bad Greek.  Bwana Coutlass Wanting 
 Ivory--Me Pretending Showing Him--Leading Him Wrong Way.  Coutlass Very 
 Bad Man, Beating Me Ngumu Sana.*  All The Same, Me More Afraid Of 
 Tippoo Tib And Bwana Schillingschen.  Not Long Ago Tippoo Tib Sending 
 Me With Bwana Coutlass Second Time, Making Bad Threats Against Me If I 
 Not Lead Him Wrong.  Then Schillingschen He Send For Me And Making 
 Worse Threats!  Oh, What Shall Do!  Oh, What Shall Do!"  [* Ngumu Sana, 
 Very Severely.] 
   
   
 "You Shall Show Us Where That Ivory Is!" Monty Answered him.  "Stop 
 Blubbering!  Get Up!  Look Here!  See This!  (Get Me That Diary, Will.) 
  If The Germans Won'T Release Your Relations From Jail On Account Of 
 This Baganda, This Is A Written Book That Will Make Them Do It!  In 
 This Book Are The Names Of Men Who Have Broken Treaties And The Law Of 
 Nations.  When The Germans Know The British Government In london Has 
 This Book Under Lock And Key, They Will Think It A Little Thing To 
 Release Your Relations For The Sake Of Avoiding Trouble!" 
   
   
 "Promise Me, Bwana!  You Promise Me!" 
   
   
 "I Promise I Will Do My Best For You." 
   
   
 "Word Of An Englishman--Promise!" 
   
   
 "Word Of An Englishman--I Promise To Do My Best!" 
   
   
 That Was A Proud Enough Moment On The Shoulder Of A Mountain, With 
 Wilderness In every Direction Farther Than The Highest Eagle In the Air 
 Above Could See, To Have That Helpless, Hopeless Ex-Slave, Part Arab, 
 Part Machenzie, Put His Whole Stock-In-Trade--His Secret--All He Had On 
 Earth To Bargain With For Those He Loved--In The Balance On The Promise 
 Of An Englishman.  It Was A Tribute To A Race That Has Had Its Share, 
 No Doubt, Of Bad Men, But Has Won Dominion Over Half The Earth And 
 Pretty Much All The Sea By Keeping Faith With Men Who Could Not By Any 
 Means Compel Good Faith. 
   
   
 "Then I Tell!" Said Hassan.  "Then I Show!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 17 (They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin) Pg 402 
 But Now A New Fear Seized him, And He Clung To Monty, Trembling and 
 Jabbering. 
   
   
 "The Men Who Eat Men!  The Men Who Eat Men!" 
   
   
 "Pah!  Cannibals!" Sneered fred.  "They'Re Always Cowards!" 
   
   
 "Tippoo Tib, He Afraid Of Nothing--Nobody!  He Is Hiding The Ivory 
 Where Men Who Eat Men Can Guard It And None Dare Come!" 
   
   
 "Lead On, Mcduff!" Fred grinned, Shouldering His Rifle. 
   
   
 All Of Us Except Monty Had Beards By That Time That Fluttered in the 
 Wind, And Looked desperate Enough For Any Venture.  Considering The 
 Rifles And Our Uncouth Appearance, Hassan Took Heart Of Grace.  He 
 Insisted on An Armed guard To Walk On Either Side Of Him, And Nearly 
 Drove Kazimoto Frantic By Ducking Behind Rocks At Intervals, Imagining 
 He Saw An Enemy;  But He Did Not Refuse Any Longer To Show The Way. 
   
   
 It Seemed that In expectation Of Schillingschen'S Early Arrival He Had 
 Camped within A Mile Of The Place Where The Stuff Was Hidden, Taking 
 Unreasoning Courage From The Bare Fact Of Having The Redoubtable 
 Schillingschen For Friend.  But The Cannibals (Who Must Have Been A 
 Hungry Folk, For There Were No Plantations, And Almost No Animals On 
 All Those Upper Slopes) Had Pounced on His Three Lean Porters, Missing 
 Himself By A Hair'S Breadth. 
   
   
 In Hiding, He Had Watched his Three Men Killed, Toasted before A Fire 
 In A Cavern-Mouth, And Eaten.  Then He Had Run For His Life, Following 
 The Shoulder Of The Mountain In the Hope Of Meeting Schillingschen, 
 Munching Uncooked corn He Had In a Little Bag, Hiding and Running at 
 Intervals For A Day And A Night Until He Chanced on Us.  For An Old Man 
 Almost Sick With Fear He Was Astonishingly Little Affected by The 
 Adventure. 
   
   
 We Took Longer Over The Course Than He Had Done, Because He Wanted to 
 Find Cannibals, And Teach Them, Maybe, A Needed lesson.  Fred'S Theory 
 Was That We Should Surprise Them And Pen Them Into A Cavern, 
 Discovering Some Means Of Talking With Them When Hunger Brought Them 
 Out To Surrender And Cringe. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 17 (They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin) Pg 403 
 So We Threw Out A Line Of Scouts, And Pounced on Cave-Mouths Suddenly, 
 Entering Great Tunnels And Following The Course Of Them In ages-Old 
 Lava Until Sometimes We Thought Ourselves Lost In the Gloom And Spent 
 Hours Finding The Way Out Again. 
   
   
 Time And Again We Found Bones--Bones Of Wild Animals, And Of Birds, And 
 Of Fish;  Now And Then Bones That Perhaps Had Been Monkeys, But That 
 Looked too Suspiciously Like Those Of The Fat Babies Mothers Mourned 
 For In the Villages Below For The Benefit Of The Doubt To Be Conceded 
 Without Something More Or Less Resembling Proof.  But Never A Human 
 Being Did We See Until We Rounded the Northeastern Hump Of The Mountain 
 In A Bitter Wind, And Spied half A Hundred naked men And Women, Thinner 
 Than Wraiths, Who Scampered off At Sight Of Us And Volleyed ridiculous 
 Arrows From A Cave-Mouth.  The Arrows Fell About Midway Between Us And 
 Them, But Threw Hassan Into A Paroxysm Of Fear, Out Of Which It Was 
 Difficult To Shake Him. 
   
   
 "Those Are The People Who Ate My Men!  That Is The Cavern Where Tippoo 
 Tib Hid The Ivory!  That Is Where My Men'S Bones Are!  See--They Have 
 Torn My Tent For Clothing For Their Naked women!" 
   
   
 We Put Hassan Under Double Guard For Fear Lest He Bolt Again And Leave 
 Us.  And All That Day, And All The Next We Hunted for Cannibals Through 
 Mazy Caverns That Seemed to Extend Into The Mountain'S Very Womb. 
 There Were Times When The Stench Was So Horrible We Nearly Fainted.  We 
 Stumbled on Men'S Bones.  We Collided with Sharp Projections In the 
 Gloom--Fell Down Holes That Might Have Been Bottomless For Aught We 
 Knew In advance--And Scrambled over Ledges That In places Were Smooth 
 With The Wear Of Feet For Ages.  Everlastingly To Right, Or Left Of Us, 
 Or Up Above, Or Down Below We Could Hear The Inhabitants Scampering 
 Away.  Now And Then An Arrow Would Flitter Between Us;  But Their 
 Supply Of Ammunition Seemed very Scanty. 
   
   
 At Night We Camped in the Cavern Mouth To Cut Off All Escape, And 
 Resumed the Hunt At Dawn.  But The Caverns Were Hot--Hotter By Contrast 
 With The Biting Winds Outside;  And When In the Afternoon Of The Second 
 Day We All Came Out To Breathe And Cool Off The Running Sweat, We Saw 
 The Whole Tribe--Scarcely More Than Fifty Of Them--Emerge From An 
 Opening above, Whose Existence We Had Not Guessed, And Go Scampering 
 Away Along A Ledge Like Monkeys.  Some Of Them Stopped to Throw Stones 
 At Us--Impotent, Aimless Stones That Fell Half-Way;  And Fred sent 
 Three Bullets After Them, Chipping Bits From The Ledge, After Which 
 They Showed us A Turn Of Speed that Was Simply Incredible, And Vanished. 
   
   
 "Now For The Great Disillusionment!" Laughed will.  "Hassan!  Go 
 Forward, And Show Us Where That Hoard Of Ivory Ought Ta Be!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 17 (They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin) Pg 404 
 We All Expected disillusionment.  Brown, Who Was Under No Delusion As 
 To His Share In the Venture, Scoffed openly At The Idea Of Finding 
 Anything Buried, In a Land Where Every Living "Crittur," As He Put It, 
 Was A Thief From Birth.  But Hassan Led on In, Fearless Now That The 
 Cannibals Were Gone, And Positive As If He Led into His Own House And 
 Would Show His House-Hold Treasures. 
   
   
 He Stopped before A Black-Mouthed chasm, Two Or Three Hundred yards 
 Along The Smallest Subdivision Of The Cavern, And Called for Lights And 
 A Rope.  We Lit Lanterns, And He Showed us Men'S Bones Lying Everywhere 
 In Grisly Confusion. 
   
   
 "Tippoo Tib His Men!" He Remarked.  "They Throwing Ivory In here, Then 
 Byumby Men Who Eat Men Kill And Eat Them.  I Alone Living To Tell! 
 Plenty Men Who Eat Men In those Days--All Mountains Full Of Them!" 
   
   
 He Tied a Lantern To A Rope And Lowered it Down What Looked like An Old 
 Vent-Hole In the Lava.  But The Little Light Was Lost In the Enormous 
 Blackness, And We Could See Nothing. 
   
   
 "Send A Man Down!" He Counseled. 
   
   
 We Leaned over The Edge And Sniffed.  There Was A Faint Smell Of What 
 Might Be Sulphur, But Not Enough To Hurt. 
   
   
 "Who'Ll Go?" Asked monty, And I Thought He Was Going To Volunteer 
 Himself. 
   
   
 "I Go Down!" Announced kazimoto Cheerfully, And Promptly Proceeded to 
 Divest Himself Of Every Stitch Of Clothing. 
   
   
 We Made Our Stoutest Line Fast Under His Arm-Pits, Gave Him A Lantern 
 And Lowered him Over The Edge.  For Fifty Or Sixty Feet He Descended 
 Steadily, Swinging The Lantern And Walking Downward, Held Almost 
 Horizontally By The Slowly Paid-Out Rope.  Then He Stopped, And We 
 Heard Him Whistling. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 17 (They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin) Pg 405 
 "What Do You See?" We Called down. 
   
   
 "Pembe!" (Ivory.) 
   
   
 "Much Of It?" 
   
   
 "Teli!"  (Too Much!)  "Oh, Teli, Teli! Teli, Teli, Teli, Teli!" 
   
   
 His Voice Ended with The Very High-Pitched note That Natives Use When 
 They Want To Multiply Superlatives.  Then He Whistled again.  Next He 
 Called very Excitedly. 
   
   
 "Very Bad Smell Here, Bwana!  Pull Me Out Quickly!" 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 18 (L'Envoi) Pg 406 
 The Dry Death-Rattle Of The Streets 
 Asserts A Joyless Goal-- 
 Re-Echoed clang Where Traffic Meets, 
 And Drab Monotony Repeats 
 The Hour-Encumbered role. 
 Tinsel And Glare, Twin Tawdry Shams 
 Outshine The Evening Star 
 Where Puppet-Show And Printed lie, 
 Victim And Trapper And Trap, Deny 
 Old Truths That Always Are. 
 So Fare Ye, Fare Ye Well, Old Roofs! 
 The Syren Warns The Shore, 
 The Flowing Tide Sings Overside 
 Of Far-Off Beaches Where Abide 
 The Joys Ye Know No More! 
 The Salt Sea Spray Shall Kiss Our Lips-- 
 Kiss Clean From The Fumes That Were, 
 And Gulls Shall Herald Waking Days 
 With News Of Far-Seen Water-Ways 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 18 (L'Envoi) Pg 407 
 All Warm, And Passing Fair. 
 They'Ve Cast The Shore-Lines Loose At Last 
 And Coiled the Wet Hemp Down-- 
 Cut Picket-Ropes Of Kedar'S Tents, 
 Of Time-Clock Task And Square-Foot Rents! 
 Good Luck To You, Old Town! 
 Oh, Africa Is Calling Back 
 Alluringly And Low 
 And Few They Be Who Hear The Voice, 
 But They Obey--Lot'S Wife'S The Choice, 
 And We Must Surely Go! 
 So Fare Ye, Fare Ye Well, Old Roofs! 
 The Stars And Clouds And Trees 
 In Place Of You!  The Heaped thorn Fire-- 
 Delight For The Town'S Two-Edged desire-- 
 For Thrice-Breathed breath The Breeze! 
 For Rumble Of Wheels The Lion'S Roar, 
 Glad Green For Trodden Brown 
 For Potted plant And Measured lawn 
 The View Of The Velvet Veld At Dawn! 
 Good-By To You, Old Town! 
   
   
 If All Is Well That Ends Well, And Only That Is Well, Then This Story 
 Fails At The Finish, For We Never Caught The Cannibals, So Never Taught 
 Them The Lesson In housekeeping and Economics That They Needed.  But 
 There Is No Other Shortcoming To Record. 
   
   
 It Is No Business Of Any One'S What Terms We Made In the End With The 
 Protectorate Government;  But Thanks To Monty'S Tact And Influence, And 
 To Their Sense Of Fair Play, We Were Treated generously.  And If, When 
 The World War At Last Broke Out And The Germans Undertook To Put In 
 Practise The Treachery They Had So Long Planned, There Was A Secret 
 Fund Of Hugely Welcome Money At The Disposal Of The Out-Numbered 
 Defenders Of British East, Its Source Will No Doubt Be Accounted for, 
 As Well As Its Expenditures, To The Proper People, By The Proper 
 People, At The Proper Time And Place. 
   
   
 But Those Who Are Curious, And Are Adept At Unraveling Statistics Might 
 Learn More Than A Little By Studying The Export Figures Relating To 
 Ivory During The Years That Preceded the War.  They Say Statistics 
 Never Lie;  But Those Who Write Them Now And Then Do, And It May Be 
 That Camouflage Was Understood And Went By Another Name Before The 
 Great War Made The Art Notorious And Popular. 
   
   
 Some Of The Ivory In that Huge Hole Was Ruined by The Heat That Still 
 Lives In elgon'S Womb.  Some Of It Was Splintered by The Fall When 
 Yoked slaves Tossed it In.  Rats Had Gnawed some Of It, To Get At The 
 Soft Sweet Core. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 18 (L'Envoi) Pg 408 
 But The Men Who Keep The Keys Of The Bursting Ivory Vaults By London 
 Docks Could Tell How Much Of It Was Good, And What Huge Stores Of It 
 Reached them.  For Some Strange Reason They Are Not A Very Talkative 
 Breed of Men. 
   
   
 We Did Not Haul The Ivory Out Ourselves.  That Would Have Been Too 
 Public A Proceeding.  But Any One Who Attempted during The Years That 
 Followed nineteen Hundred to Make A Trip To Elgon Can Truthfully Inform 
 Whoever Cares To Know,  How Jealously And Wakefully The Protectorate 
 Government Guarded those Lonely Trails.  And There Are Folk Who Saw The 
 Hundred-Man Safaris That Came Down From That Way Every Week Or So, 
 Carrying Old Ivory, Said To Be Acquired in the Way Of Trade.  But That 
 Is Really All Government Business, And Looks Impertinent In print. 
   
   
 We Did Not Make Enough Money To Establish Monty In the Homes Of His 
 Ancestors At Montdidier Towers And Kirkudbrightshire Castle;  For That 
 Would Have Been An Unbelievable Amount;  It Takes More Than Mere 
 Affluence To Keep Up An Earldom In the Proper Style.  But We All Got 
 Rich. 
   
   
 Brown Received his Cattle Back After A Long Wait, As Well As A Present 
 Of Money That Set Him Up Handsomely For Life.  And Certain Dissatisfied 
 Masai Were Fined so Many Cows And Sheep For Raiding across The Border 
 That They Talked of Migrating Out Of Spite To German East--But Did Not 
 Do It. 
   
   
 A Youthful Red-Headed assistant District Superintendent Of Police Was 
 Unaccountably Alert Enough To Round Up And Bring Into Court More Than A 
 Dozen Natives Who Had Preached sedition.  And, Being Lucky Enough To 
 Secure Convictions In every Case, He Was Promoted.  The Last I Heard Of 
 Him He Was Fighting In the Very Heart Of German East In command Of A 
 Whole Brigade.  So It Is Advantageous Sometimes To Do Favors For Stray 
 Noblemen, Provided you Are Clever Enough, And Man Enough To Make Good 
 When The Favors Are Repaid. 
   
   
 And While On The Subject Of Favors, The Four Homesick Islanders Who Had 
 Lent Us Their Canoes And Came With Us All That Journey, Were Sent Back 
 To Their Island Followed by A Launch Towing Two Barges Full Of 
 Corn--Free, Gratis, And For Nothing--"Burre Tu," As The Natives Say, 
 Meaning That The English Are Certainly Crazy And Giving away Food 
 Without A Pull-Back To It Simply And Solely Because "The People" Have 
 Too Much Nja.  Nja Is The Nastiest Word In all Those Languages.  It 
 Means The One Thing Everybody Dreads--The Thing That Only The English 
 Seem To Know Charms Against--Want--Emptiness--Hunger. 
 
 
 
 Part IV Chapter 18 (L'Envoi) Pg 409 
 At Our Expense, But By The Favor Of The Government, There Went To That 
 Island Food Enough In boxes And Strong Sacks--And Seeds, Treated 
 Against Insects--And Tools With Which The Wives Could Chop The Soil Up 
 (For You Can'T Expect The Owner Of A Wife To Work) To Keep That Island 
 And Its Friendly Folk From Hunger For Many A Day. 
   
   
 The End 
 
 
 Publication Date: October 16th 2014 https://www.bookrix.com/-ao5d837745a1735