Literary Lapses

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?