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Literary Lapses
·
Stephen Leacock
97
Question.
Listen
to
this,
then:
"The
sun
of
Ethiopia
beat
fiercely
upon
the
desert
as
De
Vaux,
mounted
upon
his
faithful
elephant,
pursued
his
lonely
way.
Seated
in
his
lofty
hoo-doo,
his
eye
scoured
the
waste.
Suddenly
a
solitary
horseman
appeared
on
the
horizon,
then
another,
and
another,
and
then
six.
In
a
few
moments
a
whole
crowd
of
solitary
horsemen
swooped
down
upon
him.
There
was
a
fierce
shout
of
'Allah!'
a
rattle
of
firearms.
De
Vaux
sank
from
his
hoo-doo
on
to
the
sands,
while
the
affrighted
elephant
dashed
off
in
all
directions.
The
bullet
had
struck
him
in
the
heart."
There
now,
what
do
you
think
of
that?
Isn't
De
Vaux
killed
now?
Answer.
I
am
sorry.
De
Vaux
is
not
dead.
True,
the
ball
had
hit
him,
oh
yes,
it
had
hit
him,
but
it
had
glanced
off
against
a
family
Bible,
which
he
carried
in
his
waistcoat
in
case
of
illness,
struck
some
hymns
that
he
had
in
his
hip-pocket,
and,
glancing
off
again,
had
flattened
itself
against
De
Vaux's
diary
of
his
life
in
the
desert,
which
was
in
his
knapsack.
Question.
But
even
if
this
doesn't
kill
him,
you
must
admit
that
he
is
near
death
when
he
is
bitten
in
the
jungle
by
the
deadly
dongola?
Answer.
That's
all
right.
A
kindly
Arab
will
take
De
Vaux
to
the
Sheik's
tent.
Question.
What
will
De
Vaux
remind
the
Sheik
of?
Answer.
Too
easy.
Of
his
long-lost
son,
who
disappeared
years
ago.
Question.
Was
this
son
Hairy
Hank?
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