4 
V TROUBLES WITH THE WORKMEN 55 
and chisels resounded merrily and energetically, 
where all had been silence a moment before. They 
thought, of course, that I was still some distance off 
and had not seen them, but to their consternation | 
shouted to them that they were too late, as I had 
been watching them for some time. I fined. every 
man present heavily, besides summarily degrading 
the Headman, who had thus shown himself utterly 
unfit for his position. I then proceeded to my hut, 
but had scarcely arrived there when two of the 
scoundrels tottered up after me, bent almost double 
and calling Heaven to witness that I had shot them 
both in the back. In order to give a semblance of 
truth to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narra- 
tive, they had actually induced one of their fellow 
workmen to make a few holes like shot holes in their 
backs, and these were bleeding profusely. Unfortu- 
nately for them, however, I had been carrying a rifle 
and not a shot gun, and they had also forgotten to 
make corresponding holes in their clothing, so that 
all they achieved by this elaborate tissue of falsehood 
was to bring on themselves the derision of their 
comrades and the imposition of an extra fine. 
Shortly after this, when the masons realised that 
I intended to make each man do a fair day’s work 
for his money, and would allow nothing to prevent 
this intention from being carried out, they came to 
the conclusion that the best thing to do would be to 
