speculative eye at him.
'How would you like to learn to play gin rummy, old son?' he asked
kindly. Six months was a lot of time to while away and there might yet
be further profit in the situation, he thought.
The sound of the drums woke Count Aldo Belli from a deep,
untroubled sleep. He lay and listened to them for a while, to the deep
monotonous rhythm like the pulse of the earth itself, and the effect
was lulling and hypnotic. Then suddenly the Count came fully awake and
the adrenalin poured hotly into his bloodstream. A month before
leaving Rome he had attended a screening of the latest Hollywood
release, Trader Horn, an African epic of wild animals and bloodthirsty
tribesmen. The sound of tribal drums had been skilfully used on the
sound track to heighten the sense of menace and suspense, and the Count
now realized that out there in the night the same terrible drums were
beating.
He came out of his bed in a single bound with a roar that woke those in
the camp who were still asleep. When Gino rushed into the tent, he
found his master standing stark-naked and wild-eyed in the centre of
his tent with the ivory-handled Beretta in one hand and the jewelled
dagger clutched in the other.
The instant the drums began beating, Luigi Castelani hurried back to
the bivouac, for he knew exactly what ' reaction to expect from the
colonel. He arrived to find that the Count was fully uniformed,
had selected a bodyguard of fifty men and was on the point of embarking
in the waiting Rolls. The engine was running and the driver was as
eager to leave as his august passenger.
The Count was not at all pleased to see the bulky figure of his
Major come hurrying out of the darkness with that unmistakable
swaggering gait. He had hoped to get clear before Castelani could
intervene, and now he immediately went on the offensive.
'Major, I am returning to Asmara to report in person to the
General,' shouted Aldo Belli, and tried to reach the Rolls, but the
Major was too nimble for him and interposed his bulk and saluted.
'My Colonel, the de fences of the wells are now complete,' he reported.
'The area is secure.'
'I shall report that we are being attacked in overwhelming force,'
cried the Count, and tried to duck around Castelani's right side, but
the Major anticipated the move and jumped sideways to keep belly to
belly.
'The men are dug in, and in good spirits.'
'You have my permission to withdraw in good order under the enemy's
bloodthirsty assault.' The
Count attempted to lull the man with the prospect of escape, and then
lunged to the left to reach the Rolls but the Major was swift as a
mamba, and again they faced each other. The entire (officer corps of
the Third Battalion, hastily dressed and alarmed by the drums in the
night, had assembled to watch this exhibition of agility as the Count
and Castelani jumped backwards and forwards like a pair of game cocks
sparring at each other. Their sentiments were heavily on the side of
