FIGHTING AN AFRICAN GRASS-FIRE 37 



As time passed we saw dense clouds of smoke 

 rising from the opposite side of the Nile, some 

 twenty miles away, and we knew that the blacks 

 were beginning to fire the elephant-grass. One 

 afternoon smoke appeared far off in the distance 

 back of camp, and when night came we saw the 

 glow of the fire in the sky. A few nights later 

 there were several other glows in as many dif- 

 ferent directions, but none was nearer than 

 twenty miles, and as the wind was blowing away 

 from camp we felt that there was little danger. 



I must admit, however, that from the time 

 the fires were first seen on our side of the river I 

 became nervous and kept a constant eye on them. 



When burning at a great distance it is diffi- 

 cult to judge exactly how far away a fire really is, 

 and I doubt very much if any of us realised 

 how steadily the flames were creeping in upon us, 

 until one noon, while we were eating luncheon, 

 Kermit said to the colonel: 



"Father, what are you looking at? You ap- 

 pear to be pondering over something." 



The colonel made some casual reply, and it 

 occurred to me that he was watching and think- 

 ing of the same thing that occupied my mind 

 the proximity of the fire for from the open 



