Part 27 (1/2)
For no better reason than that I was curious and unoccupied, I slipped out of the house and followed hiine hilance backward he ran up-street in the direction of the bazaar I followed his--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 becaroup 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 concealround between me and the tents But now that I knew Hassan's destination, I could afford to let hiht for a minute; so I turned round enabledthat at right angles to Hassan's course until I reached the edge of sole, 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 e, and so approached the encaht a rifle with , but because the lion incident of the previous afternoon had taught me caution It had not entered e white arded as a member of the ht to carry a rifle, for that matter
The ca one way Two of the in front was obviously a white man's One tent housed a mule, and the rest were for native servants and porters The ca to so cooked, and s 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
I don't knohy, 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 feords, andCircu a rifle and was therefore a white ht to approach The tent with the ht, pitched in a triangle I passed between thes 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 takethat puzzled me hy a German (for it was a perfectly unlish to a native as certainly familiar with both Arabic and Kiswahili When I heard the Gerschen I wondered still more, for froues 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 lish, and that Hassan would al you came to me!” I heard The accent was cluive you ht ti from people you never saw, and I shall knohether or not you lie to me!
You say there are three of the fools?”
”Yes, bwana There were four, but one going hoone ho Hassan's voice No doubt he could speak his h, but in coine that to lish he o home?”
”I don't knoana”
”Did they quarrel?”
”Sijui” [ Sijui, I don't know: the o, which means ”presently,” ”bye and bye,” ”in a little while”
”Don't you dare say 'sijui' towith Lady Saffunwardo--staying in sao with hi 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 pro an' do what she tell 'e bazaar talk an' sendingtoo She refuse to takeood report, but Greek bwana he not caring and say toGreek people very bad! No food--nobut swear an' kick an' call bad names--an' drunk nearly all the time!”
”What makes you think these three men knohere the ivory is?” said the Ger natives--self-assertive but calmarks on it”
”How do you know?”
”She--Lady Saffunwardo go in their bedrooht”
”Did you see her take it?”
”Yes, bwana”
”Did you see the marks on it?”