brushing against Jock's nose. And still he never 

 budged never moved except, as each boy approached, 

 to look up at his face and, slowly turning his head, 

 follow him round with his eyes until he re-entered 

 the path. There was something extremely funny 

 in the mechanical regularity with which his head } 

 swung round. It was so funny that not only the boys 

 at the waggons noticed it and laughed ; the un- 

 suspecting Shangaans themselves shared the joke. 

 When half a dozen had passed round in safety, com- 

 ments followed by grunts of agreement or laughter 

 ran along the line, and then, as each fresh boy passed 

 and Jock's calm inspection was repeated, a regular 

 chorus of guffaws and remarks broke out. The long 

 heavy bundles on their heads made turning round a 

 slow process, so that, except for the first half-dozen, 

 they were content to enjoy what they saw in front 

 and to know by the laughter from behind that the 

 joke had been repeated all down the line. 



The last one walked calmly by ; but as he did so 

 there came one short muffled bark, " Whoop ! " 

 from Jock as he sprang out and nipped the unsuspect- 

 ing Shangaan behind. The boy let out a yell that 

 made the whole gang jump and clutch wildly at their 

 toppling bundles, and Jock raced along the footpath, 

 leaping, gurgling and snapping behind each one he 

 came near, scattering them this way and that, in a 

 romp of wild enjoyment. The shouts of the scared 

 boys, the clatter of the tins as their bundles toppled 

 down, the scrambling and scratching as they clawed 

 the ground pretending to pick up stones or sticks to 

 213 



