xii THE RAID 121 



The young women and children, shivering with 

 fear, and afraid to utter a sound, lest a piteous 

 cry or an appeal of any kind be answ r ered with 

 a swift knife-thrust or a brutal smash with a rifle- 

 butt, stand herded together, surrounded by a ring 

 of warriors. Those of the old men and women 

 who have failed to make good their escape are 

 lying stark and stiff at the doors of their huts ! 



Time is passing swiftly, and as those who have 

 fled will carry the news to neighbouring villages 

 and return as quickly as possible with succour, 

 it behoves the raiders to make all haste with 

 their booty back to their fastnesses in the hills. 

 The captives, guarded strongly on all sides, are 

 therefore, hustled and hurried along without rest, 

 day or night, the laggards and weaklings being 

 mercilessly flogged with whips made of hippo- 

 potamus hide. A stronger body of raiders follows 

 up to guard the rear and frustrate any attempt 

 on the part of pursuing villagers to regain their 

 wives and children, many of whom will never 

 again set eyes on home and kith and kin. 



All of a sudden, a male captive, whose mental 

 suffering is keener than any physical pain that 

 human hands can inflict on him, falls out. 



' Meme siwaesi, bwana wae, nemechoka, unguvu 

 simequeisha ! ' he cries. (I am unfit, my master, I 

 am done, my strength is utterly finished !) 



