On Returning To My Hut, Therefore, At
About Three O'clock In The Afternoon, I Threw
Myself Into A Long Deck Chair, Too Tired For
Anything Beyond A Long Cool Drink.
Here I
rested for an hour or so, amused by the bustle at
the small wayside station we had just built, and
idly watching our tiny construction engine forging
its way, with a great deal of clanking and puffing,
up a steep gradient just across the river.
It
was touch-and-go whether it would manage to
get its heavy load of rails and sleepers to the top
of the incline or not, and I became so interested
in the contest between steam and friction and
gravity, that I did not notice that a visitor had
approached and was standing quietly beside me.
On hearing the usual salutation, however, I
turned round and saw a lean and withered half-bred
Masai, clothed in a very inadequate piece of
wildebeeste hide which was merely slipped under
the left arm and looped up in a knot over the
right shoulder. He stood for a moment with the
right hand held out on a level with his shoulder,
the fingers extended and the palm turned towards
me - all indicating that he came on a friendly
visit. I returned his salutation, and asked him
what he wanted. Before answering, he dropped
down on his heels, his old bones cracking as he
did so. "I want to lead the Great Master to two
lions," he said; "they have just killed a zebra and
are now devouring it." On hearing this I
straightway forgot that I had already done a
hard day's work in the full blaze of an equatorial
sun; I forgot that I was tired and hungry; in
fact, I forgot everything that was not directly
connected with the excitement of lion-hunting.
Even the old savage at my feet grinned when
he saw how keen I was about it.
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