nore in all keys, all
languages, all directions, and it was like trying to sleep in the same
room with a fog-horn. Nothing could waken him and he went to sleep
before he struck the bed. And from that moment on through the night he
tried the acoustic properties of that end of the ship to the utmost.
After two or three nights of sleeplessness we resolved to rebel, mutiny,
revolt, and if necessary joyfully to commit justifiable homicide.

[Drawing: _Never an American Flag_]

One night Stephenson turned on the light and reached for his cane. "What
are you going to do? Kill him?" I asked eagerly. But he only poked at
the quivering form to awaken it, and merely succeeded in changing the
key from B flat to a discord of minors.

At Yokohama somebody got off and by buying an extra berth we moved into
another state-room and slept for twenty-four hours. We called him
"Snoring Cupid," because of his cherubic appearance and proficiency in
snoring.

It was the cherry blossom season in Japan. Through the constant rain we
saw the hillsides pink with loveliness. But it was cold and
disheartening and after five days in Japan we turned with relief to the
voyage homeward. And it was very pleasant. Lots of pleasant things
happened, but nothing more.

It is good to be back where the American flag is a familiar sight and
not a curiosity. We saw thousands and thousands of merchant ships, but
except in Manila and Honolulu we never saw a solitary American flag on
one of them.

* * * * *

And that's the end of our hunting trip. We are now back where we have to
pay two or three times as much for things as we did in the Orient. A
cigar that costs three cents gold in Manila costs twelve and one-half
cents gold in San Francisco! But--never mind. A pleasant time was had.

CHAPTER XXII

WAYS AND MEANS. WHAT TO TAKE AND WHAT NOT TO TAKE, INFORMATION FOR THOSE
THAT WISH, INTEND OR HOPE TO HUNT IN THE AFRICAN HIGHLANDS

When one returns to America after some time in the African game country,
he is assailed by many questions from others who wish, intend, or hope
to make a similar trip. Almost without variation the questioner will ask
about the cost, about the danger from fever and sickness, about snakes
and insects, about the tempers of the tribes one encounters, and then,
if he be a specialist, he will ask about the rifles and the camp
equipment. As these familiar and oft repeated inquiries have been made