That brought him to
his senses. He looks across the snow at the
Army, and sees the rifles that we had
brought into the country.
??????We??™re done for,??™ says he. ???They are
Englishmen, these people,??”and it??™s my
blasted nonsense that has brought you to
this. Get back, Billy Fish, and take your
men away; you??™ve done what you could,
and now cut for it. Carnehan,??™ says he,
???shake hands with me and go along with
Billy. Maybe they won??™t kill you. I??™ll go
and meet ??™em alone. It??™s me that did it.
Me, the King!??™
??????Go!??™ says I. ???Go to Hell, Dan. I??™m
with you here. Billy Fish, you clear out,
and we two will meet those folk.??™
??????I??™m a Chief,??™ says Billy Fish, quite
quiet. ???I stay with you. My men can go.??™
???The Bashkai fellows didn??™t wait for a
second word but ran off, and Dan and Me
and Billy Fish walked across to where the
drums were drumming and the horns were
horning. It was cold-awful cold. I??™ve
got that cold in the back of my head now.
There??™s a lump of it there.???
The punkah-coolies had gone to sleep.
Two kerosene lamps were blazing in the
office, and the perspiration poured down my
face and splashed on the blotter as I leaned
forward. Carnehan was shivering, and I
feared that his mind might go. I wiped
my face, took a fresh grip of the piteously
mangled hands, and said:??”???What happened
after that????
The momentary shift of my eyes had
broken the clear current.
Pages:
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61