CHAPTER XV 

 DOWN THE NILE; THE GIANT ELAND 



WE spent two or three days in Nimule, getting every- 

 thing ready for the march north to Gondokoro. 



By this time Kermit and I had grown really attached 

 to our personal followers, whose devotion to us, and whose 

 zeal for our success and welfare and comfort, had many 

 times been made rather touchingly manifest; even their 

 shortcomings were merely those of big, naughty children, 

 and though they occasionally needed discipline, this was 

 rare, whereas the amusement they gave us was unending. 

 When we reached Nimule we were greeted with enthu- 

 siasm by Magi, Kermit's Kikuyu sais, who had been in 

 charge of the mules which we did not take into the Lado. 

 Magi was now acting as sais for me as well as for Kermit; 

 and he came to Kermit to discuss the new dual relation- 

 ship. "Now I am the sais of the Bwana Makuba, as 

 well as of you, the Bwana Merodadi" (the Dandy Master, 

 as for some inscrutable reason all the men now called 

 Kermit); "well, then, you'll both have to take care of 

 me," concluded the ruse Magi. 



Whenever we reached one of these little stations where 

 there was an Indian trading store, we would see that those 

 of our followers who had been specially devoted to us and 

 this always included all our immediate attendants had a 

 chance to obtain the few little comforts and luxuries, tea, 

 sugar, or tobacco, for instance, which meant so much to 

 them. Usually Kermit would take them to the store him- 

 self, for they were less wily than the Indian trader, and, 

 moreover, in the excitement of shopping occasionally pur- 

 chased something for which they really had no use. Ker- 

 mit would march his tail of followers into the store, give 



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