TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 171 



time, but it was not really long before the un- 

 accustomed method of travel began to tell. I had 

 never before been for a long excursion on board a 

 ship of the desert, certainly I had previously no idea 

 of what it could do going "full steam ahead." It is 

 difficult to explain the matter delicately. To put it as 

 nicely as possible, I suffered horribly from " mal-de- 

 camel." 



We never stopped, we rushed on at top speed. The 

 way the camel-men picked up the trail of the runaway 

 was very clever, sorting it out from other trails, and 

 must, I think, have been born of centuries of following. 

 Sometimes the great splayed track lay ahead for all to 

 see, but ofttimes it was lost — to me — in a maze of stones 

 and scrub and thick country. We went on until, as 

 far as I was concerned, the world was revolving around 

 me, the sun a gimlet to bore my brain, the dust a 

 dense curtain to my mind. I did not now look ahead. 

 Vengeance and the desire for it had left me. Let the 

 man go, and the rifle with him. Probably it would 

 prove Nemesis enough without my taking on the 

 function ! 



Suddenly Clarence shouted, and pointed enthusiasti- 

 cally to the horizon. Yes, there was a twirling column 

 of dust. The fugitive of course. We had come up 

 with him sooner than I thought. The driver urged 

 along our camel until we fairly shot over the ground, 

 and presently we could hear the pad, pad, pad of our 

 stolen animal, and see plainly the recreant butler, 

 apparently in two minds whether to alter his course or 

 not. His party swerved suddenly, away to the left, 



