272 JOURNEY WITHOUT MAPS

next day, and so I asked the detective to get me six
extra carriers. By that means I thought I should be
able to use the hammock continuously next day with-
out tiring my own men, who had the long trek
behind them. But in the morning I felt better and
rather than delay while men were fetched from the
farm accepted two carriers only, one a typical Bassa,
tall, boasting, fleshy, with the usual false boyish
sullenness. The detective was very proud of him,
calling him Samson and boasting of his strength, but
long before King Peter's Town Samson was the last
carrier, holding up the whole train, grumbling at the
weight of his load.

We were aiming at King Peter's Town and Grand
Bassa was still something to be hardly hoped for, in
the vague future, when suddenly at lunch-time from
a friendly village chief I heard that it was close, that;
with the help of the lorry from Harlingsville it was
only one day's march from King Peter's Town. The
news spread to .the boys, to the carriers. We sat and
grinned at each other, blacks and whites, closer in
this happiness than we had been all through the trek;
in our relief of spirit there was no longer any need to
control the temper, one could curse and quarrel as
well as laugh, and to the carriers' joy I broke out at
the hated Tominie with a flow of obscenity I hadn't
known was at my command* This was the greatest
happiness of all: to feel that restraint was no longer
necessary. Rashly I told the boys about the lorry that
I would get to meet us at Harlingsville and soon every
carrier knew of it; they had never seen a cat, but they
knew what it meant, twelve blessed miles without
loads, without effort.