92 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. viii 
him why he had punished his boy, to which he 
replied that he had given him a good beating for 
loitering behind on the day that he had been tossed 
by the buffalo, adding in extenuation of his severity: 
‘You see, bwana, had he been killed, I should have 
had no one to carry my things and cook my food! ’ 
