TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 65 



earnest. I do not think any harm would have resulted 

 if the thorn had been left where it stuck until the 

 morning. But no ! The men said if the thorn were 

 left the throat would swell, and if the throat swelled 

 the patient would choke, and if he choked he would be 

 dead. The cook produced some of the doughy bread 

 he was past-master in concocting, a sticky mass to 

 act as panacea, and our thorn-stuck henchman swal- 

 lowed a lot to the detriment of his digestion. No 

 use. The thorn would not be levered out. Then — 

 brilliant idea — try a hairpin ! Comic papers have it 

 that a woman can go through the world with a hair- 

 pin as a tool for everything, and come out victorious. 

 I have never seen one put in the list of a hunter's 

 requirements — a great oversight. Take my word for 

 it, a hair-pin does the work of ten ordinary implements. 

 The rounded end of one hooked round the offending 

 thorn ejected the cause of all the trouble, and peace 

 reigned in the camp. 



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