Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-27

venom. There. bent In every conceive
able attitude that romantic fancies
could dictate. trailed at least so peo-
Pile; Flint, Gregg the whole adult male
population of Elgayo Village, tapCring
into an adolescent section. succeeded
by a juvenile and an infantile class,
and finally the muling babes, dear,
toddling. little mischiefs, smelling like
decompOsed lobster salads.
What kind of show do they think
this is?" asked Gregg. "IIere in per-
fectly good faith, have been making
an ass Of myself stalking This buffalo
thing-unconsciouS and innocent, while
60 pair of gummy eyes have been
watching my antics / tell you right
now there's not enough privacy in
Africa to suit me. I've never been more
stared at in my life"
1T is "a bit thick-quite," said Flint.
They can't follow us like that" And
with violent, threatening gestures he
drove this ill-aSSorted rabble back
hundred yards All was we'll until we
started forwai d. when at once tuev were
on our heels again. 1t was like trying
to shake of sheet of f1y-paper. At
length Flint selected a !ikal: looking
candidate and slapped him sopndly with
the fiat of his hand. This rec we'd the
full Endorsement Of Musswa. 1t also
gradually removed this unwieldly human
tail to the remote background.
1T was with difficulty We found fresh
spoor and then 1t was long stern
chase before we came up with its orig
| inator. Just as We seemed to be reach
| ing a crisis. there was the. slightest
click from the rear, as the metal end
of an Elgayo spear tapped stone. The
crash Of the buffalo followed instantly,
but it did not move far. For an eternity.
we crouched. hardly daring to breathe.
! then moved forward once more.
| Three minutes later MuSswa was
| pointing like a bronze bird-dog. His
| interest lay In some shadows under q
| BUSH. To me they were only shadows.
could see no living thing. Then, the
buffalo suddenly moved. and became
clearly visible, but alas! too late, for in
| the wink of an eye 1t had vanished,
and with 1t my chance for fame as a
marksman The laboriously accom-
plished stalk was wasted. Musswa stood
biting the knuckle of his forehnger, his
lower jaw trembling with vexation.
Why didn't you shoot?" said Flint.
for it-not over 20 yards"
Sorry" replied. but I simply can
! not see these things. To me they are
as invisible as disembodied spirits. I
| don't believe care for any more phan-
! tom shooting. For the present, throw
up the sponge on buffalo
They're blush black" said Flint,
'and very difficult to see in the shadows.
Next time. it'll be easy" He was the
most optimistic fellow!
! Save for the crackers, who were not
working on contingent basis, we were
now the only human beings left in the
bush. The rabble. that had followed us
with so much friendly interest all the
morning with nothing but praise on its
lips had vanished like smoke as soon as
| it became clear that was dud. At
once I ceased to be of interest Even
I the most obnoxious and pot-bellied in
FAINT turned his back on me.
Flint had ordered our camp moved to
the River Ndo during the morning. so
for the River Ndo We started. cutting
crosS-lots to the point where We might
expect to find the boys" The funda-
mental fact of this valley now became
heat-heat-heat. It beat down on the
waves that caused the world to appear
as distorted as though viewed in badly
warped mirror.
IN the middle of dense thicket
l. sprinkled with good-sized mimosa
trees We came on Enthusiastically fresh
signs of elephant. There. on mimosa,
| about feet from the ground was
the spot where one had scratched him.
self. 1t was an epic scratching result
| {,,rr i,, thu ,1arv,ao1nfat AicfiOTfrpn1aft Af
the mimosa Beneath the tree the
ground gave evidence of where it had
stood rocking on the huge columns that
served it as legs.
Immediately we became tense. eX-
pecting the next moment to see IL feet
of gray pachyderm observing us over
| the tops of the bushes. The crackers
| left to locate the "ndovu." They were
| certain he was not far off. They always
are. For an hour we sat there, and
slowly leaked away. 1t was like the in
terror of fireless cooker. At length
Gregg wiped the perspiration from his
forehead and remarked:
| by jove, don't believe those rascalS
intend to come back"
Waves of giddiness were sweeping
over me. The only thing in the world
of any importance at the moment was
water; water, so negative when present,
yet so conspicuous in its absence; clear,
cool water. II throw up the sponge on
elephants. too" I said weakly. I've
lost enough moisture this morning to
float gondola. It has had a serious
effect on my metabolism-nott to men,
ton my wrist watch. I have no more
health to waste"
/ We started through the bush and at
length came to the edge of small bluff
and looked down on muddy trickle-
the River Ndo.
Here's where we camp" Flint re-
marked, throwing himself on the
ground 81 can't imagine where those
black rascals are. They should have
been here an hour ago." It was 4 pm,
IL hours since breakfast, nearly dinner
time, and we hadn't even had lunch yet
"At any rate" I said. II drink here,
mud or no mud" and started down the
bank
asorry," said Flint, cit must be boil
ed first No doubt this seems cruel,
but it's absolutely necessary"
In no time fire was going, the por-
tiers arrived with water bottles and
food, our ground sheet had been
thrown over a ridge pole, our beds
were up, we had bathed, and we're lin
gering over an excellent dinner.
with your approval" remarked
Flint. wen let the buffalo rest for a