Part 61 (1/2)
We decided to erous, and the only likely safe course being to follow up the chance success Sleep another night in the open a us wretched at theus all doith fever We preferred the thought of fever to the loneliness; fortakes kindly to him; he must have a hoenes--a Bedouin's tent--a cave, or a hole in the ground--so, so be he may rent it or own it or know for a fact he ood fun when there is cover to take to at will
All the way along the winding foot-track leading in every ie, and only turning suddenly toward it e had grown disgusted and decided to leave it and try to find another, Brown kept pointing out trees with suitable overhanging ar Coutlass The Greek, with eyes for nothing but the fat, hue cattle in the distance, seemed to think only of them, until Will commented on the fact, and Fred saw fit to drop a hint
”Steal ascalf, Coutlass, and we'll let Brown choose the tree! Try it on if you don't believe ing great piles of thorn across the gap in the rough palisade, but, as Coutlass pointed out, they would have to open it up again to let the cattle in before dark, so we sat down and ate the reue--no ambrosia by that time; it had to be eaten, to save it from utter waste!
Then Coutlass once more did a first-class devil dance backward and forward this tienius into it and fear into the hearts of the defenders Kazi a native within the palisade who could speak a coers held a very noisy council on their side of the thorn obstruction, under the apparent iinning to be pretty obvious that a h the crevices with spears inning the argument when Kazimoto detected familiar accents and raised his voice
After that the barricade was dragged aside within ten minutes and we entered, if not in honor, at least in temporary safety
Luxury is a question of contrast That evening in a hut assigned to us by the chief, squatting on the trodden cow-dung floor, leaning against the dried-ive us light and keep mosquitoes at a distance at the expense of ale made from mtama as they call their kaffir corn, and washed it doith ood rich cows' milk, milked by Kaziourds
Lucullus never dined better
The feast was only rather spoiled by two things: we all had chiggers in our feet--the es and insert thes
(Nearly every native in the village had ed to insert his s us and ask innuh the medium of his interpreter and Kazi answers, but would not have been satisfied with anything ave our interpreter free rein
Theof value to offer hie of He wanted beads of a certain size and color; for two handfuls of the to be our friend for life We had to educate him about money, and Kazimoto assured hi were so precious that governovernments
But the impression still prevailed that asikini--poor e un?”
In vain Kaziuns ”at home”--that Fred's landed possessions were so vast that two hundred strongfor a month would be unable to march across them--that Fred's wives (Fred seemed to live under a cloud of sexual scandal in those days) were so many in number they had to be counted twice a day to hteen wives of his own to show He could prove his matrimonial felicity Why had Fred left his behind? How did he dare?
Who looked after theuard the women?
Why did such a rich man travel without food for his e as if ere starving
To have told him the truth would have been worse than useless To haveas shi+pwreck would only have stirred the savage instinct to prey off all unfortunates Failing evidence of wealth in our possession, the only feasible plan was to claiht believe so a bow at a venture, who ordered Kaziing tents, provisions and uns
”There will be blue-and-white beads of the sort you long for a those loads,” added Kazimoto on his own account; and that eased the chief's ave hie it when the loads should come for as many of the beads as he could seize in his two fists The chief went out to brag to the village, opening and closing his fists to see how huge their coht his wives had to be beaten for fighting
They were jealous because the fattest and the youngest new one had both been proht because our porters eed froe herd be butchered Theythe cow by the horns and tail and throwing her on her back Fred decided that argu
The unusual spectacle of sohts or wrongs of it, so affected the chief that he entered our hut nextdisposed to hold us up for double promises of beads It was evident we had to deal with a born extortioner He would increase his demands with every fresh concession
”Oh, what's the odds!” laughed Coutlass ”Pro this way for a year or two are Schillingschen's!”
Fred told the chief he would think the iven us all a new idea in an instant, and he was the only one who did not see its point--he, the only one who did not give a snap of the fingers for the laws of any land!
”D'you suppose--”