y. I think I was pretty useful, for you see I was
the only chap there who knew even a bit about engineering or practical
surveying, and I'd sit up all night lots of times working the thing out.
We had a missionary came over the first Sunday, and wanted to preach,
but Trent stopped him. 'We've got to work here,' he said, 'and Sunday
or no Sunday I can't let my men stop to listen to you in the cool of the
day. If you want to preach, come and take a pick now, and preach when
they're resting,' and he did and worked well too, and afterwards when we
had to knock off, he preached, and Trent took the chair and made 'em all
listen. Well, when we got a bit inland we had the natives to deal with,
and if you ask me I believe that's one reason Cathcart hated the whole
thing so. He's a beastly coward I think, and he told me once he'd never
let off a revolver in his life. Well, they tried to surprise us one
night, but Trent was up himself watching, and I tell you we did give 'em
beans. Great, ugly-looking, black chaps they were. Aunt Ernie, I shall
never forget how I felt when I saw them come creeping through the long,
rough grass with their beastly spears all poised ready to throw. And now
for my own special adventure. Won't you shiver when you read this! I
was taken prisoner by one of those chaps, carried off to their beastly
village and very nearly murdered by a chap who seemed to be a cross
between an executioner and a high-priest, and who kept dancing round me,
singing a lot of rot and pointing a knife at me. You see, I was right
on the outside of the fighting and I got a knock on the head with the
butt-end of a spear, and was a bit silly for a moment, and a great chap,
who'd seen me near Trent and guessed I was somebody, picked me up as
though I'd been a baby and carried me off. Of course I kicked up no
end of a row as soon as I came to, but what with the firing and the
screeching no one heard me, and Trent said it was half an hour before
he missed me and an hour before they started in pursuit. Anyhow, there
I was, about morning-time when you were thinking of having your cup of
tea, trussed up like a fowl in the middle of the village, and all the
natives, beastly creatures, promenading round me and making faces and
bawling out things--oh, it was beastly I can tell you! Then just as they
seemed to have made up their mind to kill me, up strode Scarlett Trent
alone, if you please, and he walked up to the whole lot of 'em as bold
as b