214 AFRICAN ADVENTURE STORIES 



with us for half a mile or more. Or perhaps, 

 when we were coasting down a grade, we would 

 round a sharp curve and surprise a hyena or a 

 pair of jackals hunting mice in the tall grass. 



Once, after passing through a bit of bush, we 

 ran right up to a secretary-bird that was stalk- 

 ing along beside the track. He raised his 

 wings, flapped them vigorously, and ran along 

 the ground, preparatory to taking flight, but 

 we were under such headway that we overtook 

 him and, as he launched into the air, I brought 

 him down with a charge of number four shot. 

 Now his skin is in one of the big cases in the 

 Smithsonian Institution. 



A few months later, when I was travelling in 

 a "down train," I related this experience to an 

 inspector who was a fellow passenger. 



"I can understand why a novice might 

 think such a trip interesting," he said. "But 

 we get rather accustomed to adventures. I'll 

 tell you one of mine. 



"There had been a heavy rain, and the road 

 south of Naivasha had suffered badly. I put 

 several extra gangs at work to repair the dam- 

 age and then went north to oversee the construc- 

 tion of a bridge that had been swept away. A 



