CHAPTER III 



ON SAFARI 



IT was quite dark by the time we got back to 

 the tents, and as there was no sign of our friends 

 we had a great fire made, and all night long 

 at intervals the askaris discharged their rifles to 

 guide them in case they should be wandering 

 about near at hand, and yet not able to find the 

 way to camp. At daybreak next morning they 

 were still missing, so we concluded that they had 

 returned to Nairobi and would join us at the 

 next camp when they got news of us. We there- 

 fore decided to push forward to a place called 

 Murra-med-et, on the right bank of the Nairobi 

 river, some eight miles or so further on, and send 

 back word to our friends of our whereabouts. 



Our route lay through an open tract of grassy 

 country on the northern verge of the Athi Plains. 

 As we were riding along I noticed something stalk- 

 ing through the grass, so, thinking it was a leopard, 



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