osions, and the first thing
he saw was a slender tongue of flame running up a tall reed, and
quivering for a moment high above. Other flames ran in and out among
the withered white sheaths that had dropped off, and mounted up the
smooth stems, and then there came a wandering puff of wind, which
rustled over the bending tops and fanned the little serpent-tongues
of fire into one devouring flame.

He had no wish to be roasted. Once more using his knife to cut down
a sheaf of stems, he made a flail of these, and beat out the fire to
windward. And as he worked on the one side of the little clearing
the fire grew on the other side, and then raced along, leaving
behind in the blackened area many separate fires, where masses of
reeds had been beaten down. And the smoke went up in a growing cloud
that blotted out the sky--went up and fortunately rolled away
towards the great river under the sufficient strength of the wind;
otherwise he would have been suffocated. The cracking of the reeds
was like rifle-fire breaking through the roar of the flames, and now
and again the crashing of animals on the stampede could be heard. He
looked out upon his work with awe, stood and gazed spellbound,
wondering if such a sea of flame could ever be stopped, fearing that
it would spread out into the bush beyond, and run up into the forest
and devour every tree until stopped by the mighty river itself. As
he looked, he heard some creature before him writhing in the
blackened track of the fire, and presently he made it out--a great
crocodile convulsively lashing its powerful tail. Going near with
cautious steps, he put it out of its misery with a ball under the
forearm; then he went on over the scorched ground very slowly, for
the burnt reeds were like sharp stakes to the feet. And as he
followed, the fire died out before him, and began to eat its way
right and left, working back through the reeds against the wind.
Then he heard the report of a gun, and as he stepped from the burnt
area on to the short grass that had offered no fuel for the fire,
something came springing around him, and before he could pull
trigger it was off with a yelp into the darkness under the canopy of
smoke. "Coo-ee--coo-ee! Compton--ahoy! Compton!"

Compton croaked and hobbled on.

Then the creature yelped about him again, and his friends were
shaking him by the hands.

"You know," he said with a croak, "I didn't mean to set fire to the
place."

"Thank God, my boy,