As we climbed up the banks we were aware of certain shelters which were
like overgrown rabbit hutches cunningly contrived of wattled faggots and
straw sheaves plaited together. They had tarpaulin interlinings and
dug-out earthen floors covered over thickly with straw. These cozy
small shacks hid themselves behind a screen of haws among the scattered
trees which flanked an ancient fortification, abandoned many years
before, I judged, by the grass-grown looks of it. Out in front, upon
the open crest of the rise, staff officers were grouped about two
telescopes mounted on tripods. An old man--you could tell by the hunch
of his shoulders he was old--sat on a camp chair with his back to us and
his face against the barrels of one of the telescopes. With his long
dust-colored coat and the lacings of violent scarlet upon his cap and
his upturned collar he made you think of one of those big gray African
parrots that talk so fluently and bite so viciously. But when, getting
nimbly up, he turned to greet us and be introduced the resemblance
vanished.
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