"Ten thousand pardons, sir, but a word to the wise: never expose your manly brow to the solar luminary. In a brace of shakes you will have sunstroke."
"But there is no sun; I shan't hurt with this mist over the ground," John protested.
"It is human to err, sir. You cannot see the sun, but he sees you, and lo! in a moment he smites you, and it is no go. The head, sir, is the weaker vessel."
"Put on your hat, John," said Mr. Halliday. "We don't want to run any risks."
By and by the mist cleared, and having reached a ridge bare of trees, the travellers suddenly caught sight of Mount Kenya in the distance, rearing itself from the plain by such gentle slopes that it was hard to believe that its summit was 14,000 feet above sea-level and covered with snow. Its peaks were swathed in cloud; indeed, only once or twice during many months did the travellers catch a glimpse of them. Then the view was magnificent, and for the first time in his life John felt a longing to climb a mountain.
Every day's programme was the same. They started early. After a march of two hours a halt was called, to allow the laggards to come up with the party. Then the march was resumed, and continued until the sun's heat became unendurable, and the men clamoured for a long rest. One day at this time Mr. Halliday, selecting a glade shaded by immense trees, bade the men set down their loads, and take a siesta. The resting-place was not so well chosen as it had appeared to be; a stream ran close by, and the travellers had hardly settled themselves when they were beset by innumerable red ticks, which clung to the white men's clothing and bit their skin savagely, sparing the natives. The Hallidays, finding their attacks intolerable, sprang up and went on, instructing Coja to follow them when the porters were sufficiently rested. They had not gone far when they saw a herd of congoni, an animal of the antelope kind, dashing across the plain, and John fingered his rifle longingly. But Mr. Halliday would not permit him to go in chase of them.
"We shall have plenty of sport by and by," he said, "and we don't want to heat ourselves or lose touch with the men."
He had scarcely spoken when John caught sight of another safari coming across a ridge in the distance. Mr. Halliday thought it prudent to halt until they were rejoined by the rest of their party, and they threw themselves down under a baobab to wait for them. It was two hours before they came up, and the march had just been resumed when they heard shots, and saw a number of black men rushing towards them at full speed. Mr. Halliday was a little alarmed, thinking that an attack was imminent; but in a few moments Coja told him that the approaching men were plainly porters, for they were unarmed, but they bore no loads, and he suggested that something had frightened them.
In a few minutes the first of the runaways came up, and began to talk excitedly to Coja, who informed Mr. Halliday that the men were indeed porters belonging to a safari returning to Nairobi, and that a rhinoceros had just charged them, whereupon they had flung down their loads and bolted.
"Where is their master?" asked Mr. Halliday.