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I caught a glimpse of theirironmongery, he said, and there was more there than
scatter-guns. He had no weapon, so I offered him myrifle. They canfire this
scherm at six places, and we cannot watch them all.
There werethe four sitting
round a fire having luncheon.
When he is off his guard hespeaks almost like a
gentleman.
I am going straight to Mafudis, said Peter. Malan babbled inhis
fever, and Haraldsen, who was in the shade beside him, went tosleep.
I cant say
that I enjoyed the hour we had to wait. At this time of year there is no sap in
the thorns, so they willburn like dry tinder. Are you after thetrippers that we
found on the road last week? I raced back next morning to theold man to find
out how he had got hold of it. I said that I knew nothing about Mr Haraldsen,
but that I knew agood deal about them.
But I wasnt concerned with oldHaraldsens
operations, but with Haraldsen himself. Old Haraldsen had been in so many tight
places in his lifethat he was hard to rattle. This part of the world cant offer
much to a shadyLondon solicitor and an American crook. He couldnt read them,
but he said herecognized the characters.
I am going straight to Mafudis, said
Peter. Somemay have gone native, and ended as poor whites in a dirty hut in
aKaffir kraal. It was some hieraticlanguage, he thought, which the monks used
on the Tibetan border.
I dont know what these swine are up to,but it will soon
be our turn. It was all open and bare, and we hadnt time to dig trenchesor
build a scherm. Peter was a loyal soul,and if his allegiance was vowed to
anyone alive it was to the oldDane.
I tried as usual to put the common sense of
it. Perhaps now heknows, for I have sent him a message.
But the mention of
Troth woke him up andthe name of Albinus didnt please him.
They are Mashonas
and are timid as rabbits. Somemay have gone native, and ended as poor whites in
a dirty hut in aKaffir kraal. The greed of these men is so great that it will
makethem brave. It rose to heaven like a great wind, and Iclutched at my wits
and realized what had happened. He probably wrote letters, buthe couldnt be
certain that they would ever get to theirdestination.
The crisis came, as such
things do, when I wasnt expecting it. Would it not be better to get Arcoll and
the police? He probably wrote letters, buthe couldnt be certain that they would
ever get to theirdestination.
Hementioned Montana, and I tried to get him to
talk about copper, buthe showed no interest. It rose to heaven like a great
wind, and Iclutched at my wits and realized what had happened. The other side
has also an inscription, which at firstI took to be in the same jargon.
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