ost gave me the
blues, and if there hadn't been some jolly good shooting and a few nice
chaps up at the Fort, I should have been miserable. As it was, I left
him to himself a good deal, and he didn't like that either. I think
Attra was a jolly place, and the landing in surf boats was no end of
fun. Cathcart got beastly wet, and you should have seen what a stew he
was in because he'd put on a beautiful white suit and it got spoilt.
Well, things weren't very lively at Attra at first, I'm bound to admit.
No one seemed to know much about the Bekwando Land Company, and the
country that way was very rough. However, we got sent out at last, and
Cathcart, he simply scoffed at the whole thing from the first. There
was no proper labour, not half enough machinery, and none of the right
sort--and the gradients and country between Bekwando and the sea were
awful. Cathcart made a few reports and we did nothing but kick our heels
about until HE came. You'll see I've written that in big letters, and
I tell you if ever a man deserved to have his name written in capitals
Scarlett Trent does, and the oddest part of it is he knows you, and he
was awfully decent to me all the time.

"Well, out he went prospecting, before he'd been in the country
twenty-four hours, and he came back quite cheerful. Then he spoke to
Cathcart about starting work, and Cathcart was a perfect beast. He as
good as told him that he'd come out under false pretences, that the
whole affair was a swindle and that the road could not be made. Trent
didn't hesitate, I can tell you. There were no arguments or promises
with him. He chucked Cathcart on the spot, turned him out of the place,
and swore he'd make the road himself. I asked if I might stop, and I
think he was glad, anyhow we've been ever such pals ever since, and I
never expect to have such a time again as long as I live! But do you
know, Auntie, we've about made that road. When I see what we've done,
sometimes I can't believe it. I only wish some of the bigwigs who've
never been out of an office could see it. I know I'll hate to come away.

"You'd never believe the time we had--leaving out the fighting, which I
am coming to by and by. We were beastly short of all sorts of machinery
and our labour was awful. We had scarcely any at first, but Trent found
'em somehow, Kru boys and native Zulus and broken-down Europeans--any
one who could hold a pick. More came every day, and we simply cut our
way through the countr