Part 21 (2/2)

On the other hand, his present attitude-half away from me-was not favourable; nor, in my exposed position dared Ibetter than to wait; so e did Mavrouki crouched close atnot the faintest indication of a desire to be anywhere but there

The buffalo browsed for aslowly broadside on

So massive and loere the bosses of his horns that the brain shot was impossible Therefore I aimed low in the shoulder The shock of the bullet actually knocked that great beast off his feet! My respect for the hitting power of the 405 went up several notches The only trouble was that he rebounded like a rubber ball Without an instant's hesitation I gave hiht hiain Billy had, with great good sense and courage, continued to lie absolutely flat within a few yards of the beast, Mavrouki and I had kept low, and C and the ht The buffalo therefore had seen none of his antagonists He charged at a guess, and guessed wrong As he went by I fired at his head, and, as we found out afterward, broke his jaw A un roared froh the brush at the charging animal It was an excellent snapshot, and landed back of the ribs

When the buffalo broke through the screen of brush I dashed after hier lay in keeping close track of where that buffalo went On the other side the bushes I found a little grassy opening, and then a sed Toup, followed closely by Billy, ith her usual good sense, had figured out the safest place to be iether at the thicket's edge

The animal's movements could be plainly followed by the sound of his crashi+ng We heard hiht, and then co loe peered into the darkness of the thicket Suddenlyhim, not a dozen yards away He was still afoot, but very slow I dropped the azine of five shots into him as fast as I could work the lever We later found all the bullet-holes in a spot as big as the palm of your hand These successive heavy blows delivered all in the same place were too much for even his tremendous vitality; and slowly he sank on his side

XXVI JUJA

Most people have heard of Juja, the ing to our own countryman, Mr W N

McMillan If most people are as I was before I saw the place, they have considerable curiosity and no knowledge of what it is and how it looks

We came to Juja at the end of a wide circle that had lasted threepoint

For five days we had been cah bluff at the junction of two rivers When we moved we dropped down the bluff, crossed one river, and, after so, found our way up the other bluff There ere on a vast plain bounded by n told us ere on Juja Farm, and warned us that we should be careful of our fires in the long grass

For an hour we plodded slowly along Herds of zebra and hartebeeste drew aside before us, dark heavy wildebeeste-the gnu-stood in groups at a safe distance their heads low, looking exactly like our vanished bison; ghostlike bands of Thoular le seneral unifored froht easily be rove Finally, however, we raised above the horizon a dark straight clued fore patch of white kept appearing and disappearing again This resolved itself into the side of a building A spider-legged water tower appeared above the trees

Gradually we drew up on these A bit later ung to the right around a close wire fence ten feet high, passed through a gate, and rode down a long slanting avenue of young trees Between the trees were century plants and flowers, and a clipped border ran before thealoith shady verandas all about it, and vines A forarden lay i pole had been planted in front A hundred feet away the garden dropped off steep to one of the deep river canyons

Thite-robed Somalis appeared on the veranda to infor at this mo avenue of trees and flowers, out into an open space with es, past extensive stables, and through another gate to the open plains once more Here we made camp After lunch ent back to explore

Juja is situated on the top of a high bluff overlooking a river In all directions are trerass plains Donya Sabuk-the Mountain of Buffaloes-is the only lande of the world, and that is a day's journey away A rectangle of possibly forty acres has been enclosed on three sides by anie of the bluff Within this enclosure have been planted arden with abundance of flowers, ornamental shrubs, a sundial, and lawns In the river bottoetable and fruit garden, with cornfields, and experis of rubber, and the like For the use of the people of Juja here are raised a great variety and abundance of vegetables, fruits, and grains

Juja House, as has been said, stands back a hundred feet froht up the river valley It is surrounded by gardens and trees, and occupies all one end of the enclosed rectangle Farther down and perched on the edge of a bluff, are several pretty little bungalows for the accommodation of the superintendent and his family, for the bachelors' mess, for the farm offices and dispensary, and for the dairy rooraph station Back of and inland froe of the cliff, and scattered widely in open space, are a large store stocked with everything on earth, the Sos, the cattle corrals, the stables, wild anion sheds and the like Outside the enclosure, and a half rass huts that e Below the cliff is a concrete da plant and a few details of the sort

Such is a relief map of Juja proper FourJuja, a strictly utilitarian affair where grow ostriches, cattle, sheep, and various irrigated things in the bottom land All the rest of the farm, or estate, or whatever one would call it, is open plain, with here and there a river bottoh to constituteLondon we had received from McMillan earnest assurances that he kept open house, and that we e of his hospitality should we happen his way Therefore when one of his white-robed Somalis approached us to inquire respectfully as to anted for dinner, we yielded weakly to the temptation and told him

Then we marched us boldly to the house and took possession

All around the house ran a veranda, shaded bamboo curtains and vines, furnished with the luxurious teakwood chairs of the tropics of which you can so extend the arms as to form two comfortable and elevated rests for your feet Horns of various anie terrestrial telescope on a tripod stood in one corner

Through the latter one could exaame on the plains

And inside-mind you, ere fresh fros, pictures, wall paper, a pianola, many books, baths, beautiful white bedroo water, and above all an atmosphere of homelike comfort

We fell into easy chairs, and seized books and ht us trays with iced and fizzy drinks in thin glasses When the time came we crossed the veranda in the rear to enter a spacious separate dining-roo with silver and glass, bright with flowers We ate leisurely of a well-served course dinner, ending with black coffee, shelled nuts, and candied fruit Replete and satisfied we strolled back across the veranda to the main house F raised his hand

”Hark!” he admonished us

We held still Fro of zebra; three hyenas howled