with much laughter, at the edge of the pit they were digging.

Against the boles of near-by trees leaned their long,
oval shields of thick buffalo hide, and the spears
of those who were doing the scooping. Sweat glistened
upon their smooth, ebon skins, beneath which rolled
rounded muscles, supple in the perfection of nature's
uncontaminated health.

A reed buck, stepping warily along the trail toward water,
halted as a burst of laughter broke upon his startled ears.
For a moment he stood statuesque but for his sensitively
dilating nostrils; then he wheeled and fled noiselessly
from the terrifying presence of man.

A hundred yards away, deep in the tangle of impenetrable
jungle, Numa, the lion, raised his massive head. Numa had
dined well until almost daybreak and it had required much
noise to awaken him. Now he lifted his muzzle and sniffed
the air, caught the acrid scent spoor of the reed buck
and the heavy scent of man. But Numa was well filled.
With a low, disgusted grunt he rose and slunk away.

Brilliantly plumaged birds with raucous voices darted from
tree to tree. Little monkeys, chattering and scolding,
swung through the swaying limbs above the black warriors.
Yet they were alone, for the teeming jungle with all its
myriad life, like the swarming streets of a great metropolis,
is one of the loneliest spots in God's great universe.