the
wall, eighteen inches square, served as a window. Near the door the
floor was littered with rubbish of all kinds.

"What is your name?"

"Zaki."

"Well, Zaki, the first thing is to clear out all this rubbish, and
sweep the floor as clean as you can. I am going down to the river to
get my baggage up. Can you borrow a shovel, or something of that sort,
from one of the natives here? Or, if he will sell it, buy one. I will
pay when I return. It will always come in useful. If you cannot get a
shovel, a hoe will do. Ah! I had better give you a dollar, the man
might not trust you."

He then walked down to the river, and found the black corporal sitting
tranquilly by the side of his baggage. The man stood up and saluted,
and on Gregory saying that he had now a house, at once told off two
soldiers to carry the things.

Arriving at the hut, he found Zaki hard at work, shovelling the rubbish
through the doorway. Just as he came up, the boy brought down his tool,
with a crash, upon a little brown creature that was scuttling away.

"What is that, Zaki?"

"That is a scorpion, bey; I have killed four of them."

"That is not at all pleasant," Gregory said. "There may be plenty of
them, up among the boughs overhead."

Zaki nodded.

"Plenty of creatures," he said, "some snakes."

"Then we will smoke them out, before I go in. When you have got the
rubbish out, make a fire in the middle, wet some leaves and things and
put them on, and we will hang a blanket over the window and shut the
door. I will moisten some powder and scatter it among the leaves, and
the sulphur will help the smoke to bring them down."

This was done, the door closed and, as it did not fit at all tightly,
the cracks were filled with some damp earth from the watercourse.

"What did you pay for the shovel, Zaki?"

"Half a dollar, bey. Here is the other half."

"Well, you had better go and buy some things for yourself. Tomorrow I
will make other arrangements. Get a fire going out here. There is a
sauce pan and a kettle, so you can boil some rice or fry some meat."

Gregory then went again to the officer who was acting as quartermaster.

"I have been speaking to the General," the latter said. "You will mess
with the staff. The dinner hour is seven o'clock. I am sure you will
soon feel at home."

Gregory now strolled through the camp. The troops were in little mud
huts, of their own construction; as these, in the heat of the day, were
much cooler