54 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 



them. As soon as the sham invalid felt the heat, he 

 peeped over the edge of the blanket ; and when he 

 saw the smoke and flame leaping up round him, he 

 threw the blanket from him, sprang from the bed 

 exclaiming " Beiman skaitan!" ("Unbelieving 

 devil ! "), and fled like a deer to the entrance of 

 my boma, pursued by a Sikh sepoy, who got in a 

 couple of good whacks on his shoulders with a stout 

 stick before he effected his escape. His amused 

 comrades greeted me with shouts of " Shabash, 

 Sahib!" ("Well done, sir!"), and I never had any 

 further trouble with Karim Bux. He came back 

 later in the day, with clasped hands imploring 

 forgiveness, which I readily granted, as he was a 

 clever workman. 



A few days after this incident I was returning 

 home one morning from a tree in which I had been 

 keeping watch for the man-eaters during the 

 previous night. Coming unexpectedly on the 

 quarry, I was amazed to find dead silence reigning 

 and my rascals of workmen all stretched out in the 

 shade under the trees taking it very easy some 

 sleeping, some playing cards. I watched their pro- 

 ceedings through the bushes for a little while, and 

 then it occurred to me to give them a fright by 

 firing my rifle over their heads. On the report 

 being heard, the scene changed like magic : each 

 man simply flew to his particular work, and hammers 



