XII. 

 THE FIRE. 



WE were very tired, so we turned in early. 

 Unfortunately, our rooms were immedi- 

 ately over the billiard room, where a bibulous and 

 cosmopolitan lot were earnestly endeavouring to 

 bolster up by further proof the fiction that a white 

 man cannot retain his health in the tropics. The 

 process was pretty rackety, and while it could 

 not keep us awake, it prevented us from falling 

 thoroughly asleep. At length, and suddenly, the 

 props of noise fell away from me, and I sank 

 into a grateful, profound abyss. 



Almost at once, however, I was dragged back 

 to consciousness. Mohammed stood at my bed- 

 side. 



" Bwana," he proffered to my rather angry in- 

 quiry, " all the people have gone to the fire. It 

 is a very large fire. I thought you would like 

 to see it." 



