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By this the experienced traveller would have known that the men were very tired, tired to the point of exhaustion; for the more wearied the Central African native, or the steeper the hill he, laden, must surmount, the louder he sings or yells. "Maji hapana m'bale, bwana," observed the gun bearer to the white man. "Water is not far, master." The white man merely nodded.
Kingozi's heart bounded, and his knuckles whitened as he gripped his rifle. "Bwana hapana piga?" Simba implored. "Is not bwana going to shoot?" But Kingozi shook his head. The temptation was strong, but he resisted it. He refrained from shooting at the lions for exactly the same reason that he had insulated himself against the Leopard Woman's charms.
He did not get back until nine o'clock, when he suddenly appeared in the doorway to lean the gun in the corner, and to announce, "Hapana safari." We stretched ourselves on a bench and a table the floor was impossible and took what sleep we could. In the small hours the train thundered through, the train we had hoped to catch! See Patterson's "The Man-eaters of Tsavo."
On arriving at the bottom I called out to my terrified boy, 'Mikuke Hapana, 'There are no spears, a most merciful providence; for they often stake these pitfalls in order to ensure the death of animals that fall into them. The pitfall could not have been less than ten feet deep, for when I proceeded to extricate myself I found that I could not reach the top with my uplifted hands.
Once I suggested that as the work was dangerous, they could quit if they wanted to. "Hapana!" they both refused indignantly. We had proceeded thus for half a mile when to our relief, right ahead of us, sounded the commanding, rumbling half-roar, half-growl of the lion at bay. Instantly Memba Sasa and Mavrouki dropped back to me. We all peered ahead.
"Hapana shauri yangu," replied the man indifferently, uttering the fatalistic phrase that rises to the lips of the savage African almost automatically, unless his personal loyalty has been won "that is not my affair." He brooded on the ground for a space then looked up. "It is the business of porters to carry loads; it is the business of the white man to take care of the porters."
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