"But I wasn't really alone," said Hilda Ferrier. "The people on the Mauretania were very kind, and I met you on the Palawan, you see. I was thinking more of the natives than of lions: of course, you can shoot lions."
"And you can shoot men, my dear," said Mr. Halliday.
"There, now you've frightened her," said Mrs. Burtenshaw, as a startled look crossed the girl's face. "What an absurd man you are, David! You've told us over and over again that the natives are perfectly friendly."
"So we found them, Cousin Sylvia. We had no trouble except with the thieves of our own safari. I grudge them the rifles they stole, that's a fact. I suppose that villain Juma has never dared to show his face in Nairobi again, Gillespie?"
"Not to my knowledge. He wouldn't bring your rifles if he did."
"Why did he steal them, then?" asked Helen.
"To shoot with, of course," said Oliver Browne. "What a question!"
"I thought he might want to sell them, or pawn them, or something."
"We've no pawn-shops in Nairobi," said Mr. Gillespie, laughing, "though I'm sorry to say we've some Indian money-lenders who've got their clutch on some of our poorer settlers. Juma won't try to sell the rifles here at any rate. I suppose he stole them to shoot with, as your brother says, though I confess it's a little odd. He has been a porter for several years past, and it isn't like porters to give up their trade. Perhaps he has taken a fancy for being independent, and has settled down somewhere with others of his kidney. The rifles would be very useful to him in getting food. He's a scamp, though; for he has unquestionably deserted his wife, who has turned out a capital laundress, John says."
"He hasn't been back to the farm?" asked Mr. Halliday.