Page:Guy Boothby - The Beautiful White Devil.djvu/115

 view from the little terrace on which they stood was beautiful in the extreme. Across it, and for a short distance below, the land was open, then the undergrowth began again, gradually rising from small bushes to great trees, and afterwards continuing in one unbroken sea of green, away to where the faint outline of a mountain range peered up, upon the southeastern horizon. It was a picture to see and remember for ever.

Having dismounted from our ponies, we prepared to make ourselves comfortable. The distribution of huts was as follows: Alie took that to the right, I had a large one on the left, while that in the centre was set apart for our dining-room and sitting-room (if we wanted to be indoors, which was unlikely); the fourth was destined for the accommodation of the cook, and from it already resounded the clatter of pots and pans. Full of curiosity to see in what sort of comfort Alie travelled, I entered my own hut, and was amazed at the completeness of the arrangements. A comfortable bed-place, with mosquito curtains, occupied one side; a square of matting covered the floor, a portable wash-hand stand stood near the bed; while against the opposite wall, neatly arranged in a rack, were my guns and specimen cases. By the time I had washed off the stains of travel, and exchanged my riding costume for a lounge suit, the native gong had summoned us to dinner, and Alie and I, meeting on the terrace, entered the centre hut together.

If I had been surprised at the completeness of the arrangements of my own hut, how much more astonished was I now. Indeed, had it not been for the walls, which were covered with some peculiar sort of tapestry, and