CHAPTER XVI 
CECILY SHOOTS A RHINOCEROS 
The day shall not be up so soon as I, 
To try the fair adventure of the morn 
King John 
We are blessed in this man, as I may say, even blessed 
Winter's Tale 
The sun shall not be up so soon as I. Indeed, I had 
a whole half-hour’s start of him, while I put my house 
in order. I prepared in my own way for the fair 
adventure of the morn, and told Cecily where to look 
for my will. She was in wild spirits, and chaffed me 
no end. She saw to her armoury, and asked me over 
and over to eat more. But I said I felt exactly like 
a man about to be hanged, of whom you read in the 
next day’s papers : “ The prisoner made a most 
excellent breakfast.” 
Out we started, Clarence, the Somali who joined 
our force at the spot where the camels tried a course 
of mud baths, four hunters, and two syces. We 
followed the old spoor for miles, but it was at last 
apparent that the pachyderm we were after had by 
this time travelled far out of our ken. We sat down 
to cogitate, and the hunters went off spooring on a 
detour of their own. 
In the thick jungle we disturbed a few baby 
