AFRICAN CAMP FIRES 



out for this house. The distance was long, and we 

 had not made half of it before thunder clouds began 

 to gather. They came up thick and black behind the 

 escarpment, and rapidly spread over the entire heav- 

 ens. We found the wagon shortly, still mending its 

 dusselboom, or whatever the thing was. Leaving 

 instructions for it to proceed to a certain point on 

 the Kedong River, we started back for our safari. 



It rained. In ten minutes the dusty plains, as 

 far as the eye could reach, were covered with water 

 two or three inches deep, from which the sparse 

 bunches of grasses grew like reeds in a great marshy 

 lake. We splashed along with the water over our 

 ankles. The channels made by the game trails 

 offered natural conduits, and wherever there was 

 the least grade they had become rushing brooks. 

 We found the safari very bedraggled. Billy had 

 made a mound of valuables atop which she perched, 

 her waterproof cape spread as wide as possible, a 

 good deal like a brooding hen. We set out for the 

 meeting point on the Kedong. In half an hour 

 we had there found a bit of higher ground and had 

 made camp. 



As suddenly as they had gathered the storm clouds 

 broke away. The expiring sun sent across the 

 valley a flood of golden light, that gilded the rugged 

 old mountain of Suswa over the way. 



268 



