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 I 

 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 



