Also We Heard That
Horne Had Cut In Half His Six Months' Leave (Earned By Three
Years' Continuous Service In The Jungle) To Hurry Back From
England Because He Could Not Bear The Thought Of Being Absent
From The First Collection Of The Hut Tax!
He is a good man.
We said good-night to him and stepped from the lighted house into
the vast tropical night. The little rays of our lantern showed us
the inequalities of the ground, and where to step across the
bubbling, little irrigation streams. But thousands of stars
insisted on a simplification. The broad, rolling meadows of the
clearing lay half guessed in the dim light; and about its edge
was the velvet band of the forest, dark and mysterious,
stretching away for leagues into the jungle. From it near at
hand, far away, came the rhythmic beating of solemn great drums,
and the rising and falling chants of the savage peoples.
(C) THE CHIEFS
We left Meru well observed by a very large audience, much to the
delight of our safari boys, who love to show off. We had acquired
fourteen more small boys, or totos, ranging in age from eight to
twelve years. These had been fitted out by their masters to
alleviate their original shenzi appearance of savagery. Some had
ragged blankets, which they had already learned to twist turban
wise around their heads; others had ragged old jerseys reaching
to their knees, or the wrecks of full-grown undershirts; one or
two even sported baggy breeches a dozen sizes too large.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 202 of 371
Words from 52565 to 52825
of 97210
