and over the chant continued; truly a sort of world
without end.

"Do you know the second verse?" I cheerily asked, as he was about to
pass.

He stopped, swung around, and showed his teeth in a smile that was as
free from worry as the day.

"Me sing askabee," he explained. "Enemy go down when me sing askabee."

"Then pray continue, by all means," I said hurriedly, "Maybe after
breakfast we can manage to knock out a duet."

"We build fort after breakfast," he replied, unmindful of my banter.
"Breakfast 'bout ready. Get wet quick and come back soon." It's a wonder
he hadn't told me to smoke.

On the southern and western edge of our "island"--thus being nearest
Efaw Kotee's settlement--were a lot of fallen palms; trees that many
years ago had been killed by fire and now lay partially rotted. The best
of these Smilax had planned to make into a fort; not an elaborate
affair, but a shoulder-high hollow square, around which was to be built
another hollow square, a three foot space between their walls to be
filled with sand. It was a good idea, and would stop a Krag or modern
Springfield bullet with ease.

We worked on this till noon; he trimming, lifting and placing the
logs--and elephants have never swung teak more splendidly--while I, with
our jointed camp spade, filled in the sand. The use of an axe could not
possibly betray our position as Efaw Kotee had been betrayed, because
the breeze continued from him to us, and also for the equally good
reason that the bite of an axe in soggy palmetto does not sound with
anything like the ring that is caused by hardwood. So our walls grew,
being fitted with nice precision that gave them more than enough
strength to sustain the filling of sand--which, in turn, was kept from
sifting through the interstices by a double lining of palm leaves.

After an early luncheon we went back to add a few finishing touches, and
then stood off admiring it.

"Oughtn't we put in a stock of provisions?" I asked.

"No stay long 'nough in there to get much hungry," Smilax shook his
head. "One night and they pull um down and got us. Good to keep 'em off
in daytime; after dark we run in grass."

There was something in what he said.

With the approach of evening a curious calm came over me. Perhaps it was
the nearness of action, perhaps because I had accustomed myself to the
thought that before another dawn I must deliberately slip upon a fellow
man and destroy him. In France, with a battle ra