TWO DIANAS IN SOMALILAND 181 



the lion as Clarence pegged it out, our cook volun- 

 teered the information that the butler had gone again 

 on a still better camel, with the same driver, but minus 

 a rifle. I had thought he would settle down to a 

 dreary acceptance of the position. It really was un- 

 comfortable to harbour two such unwilling people in 

 our otherwise contented caravan, so we decided they 

 were better gone even at the cost of a camel, and this 

 time we wasted no energy on trying to retrieve them. 

 Whether they ever made safety again we never could 

 find out. Their movements from that hour were 

 wrapped in mystery, and the butler, the driver, and 

 the camel disappeared for ever from our ken. They 

 must have wanted to go very badly. It was not com- 

 plimentary, but we put as good a face on the crusher 

 as we could. 



