Write
down that the old idiot doesn't understand.) Be still now.'
'But I shot him. What else could I have done? He bought a devil in a
box, and - - '
'Quiet! That comes later. Leave talking.'
'But I am sheik of the village. One must not bring devils into a
village. I said I would shoot him.'
'This matter is in the hands of the law. I judge.'
'What need? I shot him. Suppose that your son had brought a devil in a
box to your village - - '
They explained to him, at last, that under British rule fathers must
hand over devil-dealing children to be shot by the white men (the first
step, you see, on the downward path of State aid), and that he must go
to prison for several months for interfering with a government shoot.
We are a great race. There was a pious young judge in Nigeria once,
who kept a condemned prisoner waiting very many minutes while he
hunted through the Hausa dictionary, word by word, for,
'May - God - have - mercy - on - your - soul.'
And I heard another tale - about the Suez Canal this time - a hint of what
may happen some day at Panama. There was a tramp steamer, loaded with
high explosives, on her way to the East, and at the far end of the Canal
one of the sailors very naturally upset a lamp in the fo'c'sle.
