Part 2 (2/2)

battleaxe, I struck with all my force in the direction in which I had seen the flash of the knife The blow fell upon a unwale of the canoe, completely severed it from the body just above the wrist As for its owner, he uttered no sound or cry Like a ghost he ca behind hireat knife, or rather a short sword, that was buried in the heart of our poor servant

Instantly there arose a hubbub and confusion, and I fancied, rightly or wrongly, that I ht-hand bank, whither ere rapidly drifting, for the rope by which ere moored had been severed with a knife As soon as I had realized this fact, I also realized that the scheme had been to cut the boat loose so that it should drift on to the right bank (as it would have done with the natural swing of the current), where no doubt a party of Masai aiting to dig their shovel-headed spears into us Seizing one paddleAskari was too frightened and bewildered to be of any use), and together ed vigorously out towards the middle of the stream; and not an instant too soon, for in another round, and then there would have been an end of us

As soon as ell out, we set to work to paddle the canoe upstreaerous work it was in the dark, and with nothing but the notes of Good's stentorian shouts, which he kept firing off at intervals like a fog-horn, to guide us But at last we fetched up, and were thankful to find that they had not been molested at all No doubt the owner of the same hand that severed our rope should have severed theirs also, but was led away from his purpose by an irresistible inclination to ot the chance, which, while it cost us a man and him his hand, undoubtedly saved all the rest of us frohastly apparition over the side of the boat--an apparition that I shall never forget tillhour--the canoe would undoubtedly have drifted ashore before I realized what had happened, and this history would never have been written by me

CHAPTER III THE MISSION STATION

We made the re for the dawn and congratulating ourselves upon our merciful escape, which really seemed to result more from the special favour of Providence than from our own care or prowess At last it caht, though so far as ht There in the bottom of the little boat lay the unfortunate Askari, the si the handle I could not bear the sight, so hauling up the stone which had served as an anchor to the other canoe, we made it fast to the murdered man and dropped hi but a train of bubbles behind him Alas! when our ti but bubbles behind, to show that we have been, and the bubbles soon burst

The hand of his murderer we threw into the stream, where it slowly sank

The sword, of which the handle was ivory, inlaid with gold (evidently Arab work), I kept and used as a hunting-knife, and very useful it proved

Then, abeen transferred to my canoe, we onceat all co to arrive at the 'Highlands' station by night To make matters worse, within an hour of sunrise it ca us to the skin, and even necessitating the occasional baling of the canoes, and as the rain beat down the e could not use the sails, and had to get along as best as we could with our paddles

At eleven o'clock we halted on an open piece of ground on the left bank of the river, and, the rain abating a little, ed to make a fire and catch and broil soa a supply of broiled fish with us, and shortly afterwards the rain caly difficult to navigate on account of the numerous rocks, reaches of shalloater, and the increased force of the current; so that it soon became clear to us that we should not reach the Rev Mackenzie's hospitable roof that night--a prospect that did not tend to enliven us Toil as ould, we could not e of a mile an hour, and at five o'clock in the afternoon (by which time ere all utterly worn out) we reckoned that ere still quite tenso, we set to work to ht After our recent experience, we simply did not dare to land, more especially as the banks of the Tana were clothed with dense bush that would have given cover to five thousand Masai, and at first I thought that ere going to have another night of it in the canoes Fortunately, however, we espied a little rocky islet, not more than fifteen miles or so square, situated nearly in thefast the canoes, landed and made ourselves as comfortable as circumstances would permit, which was very uncomfortable indeed As for the weather, it continued to be si down in sheets till ere chilled to thea fire There was, however, one consoling circu would induce the Masai toabout in the wet, perhaps, as Good suggested, because they hate the idea of washi+ng We ate some insipid and sodden cold fish--that is, with the exception of Uaas, who, like most Zulus, cannot bear fish--and took a pull of brandy, of which we fortunately had a few bottles left, and then began what, with one exception--e same three white men nearly perished of cold on the snow of Sheba's Breast in the course of our journey to Kukuanaland--was, I think, the ht I ever experienced It seemed absolutely endless, and once or twice I feared that two of the Askari would have died of the wet, cold, and exposure Indeed, had it not been for timely doses of brandy I am sure that they would have died, for no African people can stand much exposure, which first paralyses and then kills theaas felt it keenly; though, in strange contrast to the Wakwafis, who groaned and bele coain heard the owl's o, and had at once to prepare ourselves for another attack; though, if it had been attempted, I do not think that we could have offered a very effective resistance But either the oas a real one this time, or else the Masai were themselves too miserable to think of offensive operations, which, indeed, they rarely, if ever, undertake in bush veldt At any rate,nothing of the across the water, wrapped in wreaths of ghostly ht, the rain ceased; and then, out ca the chill air

Benued ourselves to our feet, and went and stood in the bright rays, and were thankful for them I can quite understand how it is that primitive people become sun worshi+ppers, especially if their conditions of life render them liable to exposure

In half an hour ress with the help of a good wind Our spirits had returned with the sunshi+ne, and ere ready to laugh at difficulties and dangers that had been al on the previous day

And so ent on cheerily till about eleven o'clock Just as ere thinking of halting as usual, to rest and try to shoot soht of a substantial-looking European house with a veranda round it, splendidly situated upon a hill, and surrounded by a high stone ith a ditch on the outer side

Right against and overshadowing the house was an enorlass for the last two days, but of course without knowing that it marked the site of the mission station

I was the first to see the house, and could not restraina hearty cheer, in which the others, including the natives, joined lustily There was no thought of halting now On we laboured, for, unfortunately, though the house see way off by river, until at last, by one o'clock, we found ourselves at the botto the canoes to the bank, we dise theures, dressed in ordinary English-looking clothes, hurrying down through a grove of trees to irl,' ejaculated Good, after surveying the trio through his eyeglass, 'walking in a civilized fashi+on, through a civilized garden, towe have seen yet!'

Good was right: it certainly did seem odd and out of place--more like a scene out of a dreaible fact; and the sense of unreality was not lessened e heard ourselves addressed in good broad Scotch, which, however, I cannot reproduce

'How do you do, sirs,' said Mr Mackenzie, a grey-haired, angular man, with a kindly face and red cheeks; 'I hope I see you very well My natives told o they spied two canoes hiteup the river; so we have just colad that we are to see a white face again, letperson

We took off our hats in acknowledgment, and proceeded to introduce ourselves

'And now,' said Mr Mackenzie, 'you entlelad we are to see you The last white who visited us was Alphonse--you will see Alphonse presently--and that was a year ago'

Meanwhile we had been walking up the slope of the hill, the lower portion of which was fenced off, soh stone walls, into Kaffir gardens, just now full of crops of ardens were groups of neat mushroom-shaped huts, occupied by Mr Mackenzie'sout to ardens ran the roadway up which alking It was bordered on each side by a line of orange trees, which, although they had only been planted ten years, had in the lovely climate of the uplands below Mt Kenia, the base of which is about 5,000 feet above the coastline level, already grown to iolden fruit After a stiffish climb of a quarter of a mile or so--for the hillside was steep--we came to a splendid quince fence, also covered with fruit, which enclosed, Mr Mackenzie told us, a space of about four acres of ground that contained his private garden, house, church, and outbuildings, and, indeed, the whole hilltop And what a garden it was!

I have always loved a good garden, and I could have thrown up my hands for joy when I saw Mr Mackenzie's First there were rows upon rows of standard European fruit-trees, all grafted; for on top of this hill the clietables, trees, and flowers flourished luxuriantly, even including several varieties of the apple, which, generally, runs to wood in a warm climate and obstinately refuses to fruit Then there were strawberries and tomatoes (such tomatoes!), and etable and fruit