Prev | Current Page 109 | Next

Yonge, Charlotte Mary, 1823-1901

"Stories by English Authors: Africa (Selected by Scribners)"

Few living things have their home there.
You might meet an occasional "klipspringer" (an antelope, in habits and
appearance somewhat like the chamois), a wandering troop of baboons, and
now and then a herd of eland in the more grassy areas. There are said to
be a few Bushmen still haunting the caves, but they are seldom or never
seen.
In the afternoon the sun shone into the gorge in which the travellers
were resting, and for a few hours the heat was very oppressive. Whitson
examined his revolver, removing the cartridges and replacing them by
others. He then lay down to sleep, asking Langley to remain awake and
keep a lookout. He had a vague feeling of uneasiness which he could not
overcome. Langley promised to keep awake, but he was too tired to do so.
He sat with his back against a rock, and, after some futile efforts to
keep his eyes open, fell fast asleep. By-and-by Ghamba woke him gently,
and, pointing to Whitson, whose revolver lay in the leather case close
to his hand, whispered:
"Did he not tell you to keep awake?"
Langley was grateful for this evidence of consideration, but he could
not quite make out how Ghamba had been able to understand what Whitson
had said.


Pages:
97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121