| caption: |
Chapter Seventeen. Pangsha Burns |
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Little by little we drag from Nlamo the story of how, after he and the two Lhota boys had cut the heads from the tree, they had not followed the porters, but thinking that we would still be at our position between the two khels had returned there through the burning village. In the distance he had seen some men, whom he took for our porters, but as he saw no signs of us, he had started with the two Lhotas on his own way back to the camp. Hardly had he left the village, however, when again men appeared in the smoke, but this time quite close, and in terror he recognized Pangsha men. He seized the gun and fired. The men coming towards him suddenly turned and fled. Luckily the smoke made it impossible to see that Nlamo was alone, and naturally they did not realize that the three Lhota boys were separated from the column. They probably thought we were all still in the village and were just as terrified as Nlamo, who dropped the heads, and incidentally my electric exposure meter, which he always carried, and ran for his life. |
