Part 15 (2/2)

We agreed to that

”And there is no more water for a journey”

”You are liars,” we observed politely

”And near is the village of our chief, who is a great warrior, and will bring you reatestto it,” we observed in English; ”you want trade”

Then in Swahili, ”We shall er”

After a few polite phrases they went away We finished lunch, ree of the canyon we ca, at the farther side of which was evidently the village in question But the ers, down to the last toro, were drawn up at the edge of the track in a double line through which we rode They were very wealthy savages, and wore it all Bright neck, ar ornas, blue beads of all sizes (blue beads were evidently ”in”), odd scraps and shapes of embroidered skins, clean shaves and a beautiful polish characterized this holiday gathering We ht or ten seconds after we had passed the last villager-just the proper dramatic pause, you observe-the bushes parted and a splendid, straight, springy young ly across the space that separated us And about eight or ten seconds after his eht draive entrance to four of the quaintest little dolls of wives These advanced all abreast, parted, and took up positions two either side the sht of fashi+on, his hair braided in a tight queue bound with skin, his ears dangling with ornaments, heavy necklaces around his neck, and armlets etc, ad lib His robe was of fine monkey skin e, bright and keen He was tall and finely built carried hi As the quintette caan

We drew up and disentlemen

”These,” said he proudly, ”are my beebees”

We replied that they seemed like excellent beebees and politely inquired the price of wives thereabout, and also the ave us to understand that such superior wives as these brought three cows and twenty sheep apiece, but that you could get a pretty good toto for half a rupee

”When we look upon our woood; but e look upon the white wo!”

He conificent gesture They looked very humble and abashed I was, however, a bit uncertain as to whether this was intended as a genuine tribute to Billy, or wasonly one to his four

Now observe the stagecraft of all this: entrance of diploreatness of N'Zahgi (for that was his naers, and, as climax, dramatic entrance of the hero and heroines It was pretty well done

Again we stopped about theon the rounded top of a hill While waiting for the safari to come up, Billy wandered away fifty or sixty yards to sit under a big tree She did not stay long Iirls surrounded her They were alood-natured, but Billy was probably the first white woman they had ever seen, and they intended to make the most of her Every item of her clothes and equipment they examined reat dignity to go away, they laughed consu into each other's arather her effects for a reat At last she had to signal for help One of us wandered over with a kiboko hich lightly he flicked the legs of such da hilariously Billy was escorted back to safety

Shortly after the Chief and his Prientleman, as spry as a cricket, quite nervous, and very chatty We indicated our wants to hi many words The safari came in, made camp We had tea and a bath The darkness fell; and still no Chief, no milk, no firewood, no promises fulfilled There were plenty of natives around caet out and rustle on our behalf, they ood-naturedly We seriously conteave it up, and sat down to our dinner It was now quite dark The askaris had built a little campfire out in front

Then, far in the distance of the jungle's depths, we heard a faintnearer From another direction this was repeated The two processions approached each other; their paths converged; the double chanting becarew moment by moment We heard beneath the eirdof sticks The procession debouched froht Our old chief led, accouard in all the panoply of war: ostrich feather circlets enclosing the head and face, shi+elds of bright heraldry, long glittering spears These were followed by a dozen of the quaintest solemn dolls of beebees dressed in all the white cowry shells, beads and brass the royal treasury afforded, very earnest, veryaway just as hard as ever they could Each carried a gourd of arcane, yaeant

Then the warriors dividing right and left, drew up facing each other in two lines, struck their spears upright in the ground, and stood at attention The quaint brown little women lined up to close the end of this hollow square, of which our group was, roughly speaking, the fourth side Then all ca now rose to a wild and ecstatic , one by one cast their burdens between the files and at our feet in the middle of the hollow square Then they continued their chant, singing away at the tops of their little lungs, their eyes and teeth showing, their pretty bodies held rigidly upright The warriors, very erect and ht ahead

And the chief? Was he the centre of the show, the ilories led? Not at all! This particular chief did not have the soul of a leading etful of himself and his part in the spectacle, his brow furroith anxiety, he was flittering from one to another of the perfor his hand behind his ear to catch the individual note, striking one on the shoulder in ad approval at another He darted unexpectedly across to scrutinize a warrior, in the chance of catching a flicker of the eyelid even Nary a flicker! They did their stage nificent bronzes He even ran across to peer into our own faces to see hoe liked it

With a sudden crescendo theThe old boy looked a bit startled at this, but we explained to him, and he seemed very pleased We then accepted for them-and in turn passed over a blanket, a box of ether with beads for the beebees Then F, on an inspiration, produced his flashlight This led and blinked as its bearinned and guffawed; the chief hihed like a pleased schoolboy, and see on and off of the switch

But the trusty Spartan warriors, standing still in their formation behind their planted spears, were not to be shaken They glared straight in front of theht within a few inches of their eyes, and not a muscle quivered!

”It is wonderful! wonderful!” the old man repeated ”Many Govern like that! The bwanas reat sultans!”

After the departure of our friends, ent rather grandly to bed We always did after any one had called us sultans

But our prize chief was an individual named M'booley Our camp here also was on a fine cleared hilltop between two streams After we had traded for a while with very friendly and prosperous people M'booley caht, with a beautiful smooth lithe forent He carried hi us on an easy plane of familiarity I do not kno I can better describe his manner toward us than to coolf club would use to one who is a stranger, but evidently a guest He took our quality for granted; and supposed we h he considered us ”great whitealoof and too respectful And as the distinguishi+ng feature of all, he was absolutely without personal ornament

pronounce each o separately

Pause for a moment to consider what a real advance in esthetic taste that one little fact stands for All M'booley's attendants were the giddiest and gaudiest savages we had yet seen, with hbells, polished metal, ostrich plumes, and red paint than would have fitted out any two other royal courts of the jungle The women too ealthy and opulent without li our civilized people to realize that severe sinificenceof an individual

If you do not believe it, drop in at the next ball to which you are invited M'booley had fathoth of e loves finery for its own sake His hair was cut short, and shaved away at the edges to leave what looked like an ordinary close-fitting skull cap He wore one pair of plain ars His robe was black He had no trace of either oil or paint, nor did he even carry a spear

He greeted us with good-humoured ease, and inquired conversationally if anted anything We suggested wood and , he uttered a few casual words in his own language to no one in particular There was no earthly doubt that he was chief Three of the hty warriors ran out of ca loads of firewood; and others carrying bananas, yas on a princely scale We thanked him He accepted the thanks with a casual s else In due order our M'ganga brought up one of our best trade blankets, to which we added a half dozen boxes of matches and a razor