His conscience, evidently, had driven him to this defiance of our high
mightinesses against his sense of politeness and his fears.

About this time my boy Mohammed and the cook drifted in. They reported
that they had left the safari not far back. Our hopes of supper and
blankets rose. They declined, however, with the gathering darkness, and
were replaced by wrath against the faithless ones. Memba Sasa, in spite
of his long day, took a gun and disappeared in the darkness. He did not
get back until nine o'clock, when he suddenly appeared in the doorway to
lean the gun in the corner, and to announce, "Hapana safari."

We stretched ourselves on a bench and a table--the floor was
impossible--and took what sleep we could. In the small hours the train
thundered through, the train we had hoped to catch!

FOOTNOTES:

[15] This is the point at which construction was stopped by man-eating
lions. See Patterson's "The Man-eaters of Tsavo."




XXXII.

THE BABU.


We stretched ourselves stiffly in the first gray of dawn, wondering
where we could get a mouthful of breakfast. On emerging from the station