Bruce laughed. Threw his head back and let it come from the belly.
The gunfire stammered into silence and others were laughing also.
The men who had fired grinned sheepishly and made a show of reloading.
It was not the first time that Bruce had been startled by the cry of a
yellow hornbill. But now he recognized his laughter and the laughter of
the men around him, a mild form of hysteria.
'Did you want the feathers for your hat?' someone shouted and the
laughter swept round the laager.
The tension relaxed as the banter was tossed back and forth.
Bruce stood up and brought his own laughter under Control.
No harm done, he decided. For the price of fifty rounds of ammunition, a
purchase of an hour's escape from tension.
A good bargain.
He walked across to Shermaine. She was smiling also.
'How is the catering section?' He grinned at her. 'What miracle of the
culinary art is there for lunch?'
'Bully beef.'
'And onions?'
'No, just bully beef. The onions are finished.' Bruce stopped smiling.
'How much is left?' he asked.
'One case - enough to last till lunchtime tomorrow.' It would take at
least two days to complete the repairs to the bridge; another day's
travel after that.
'Well,' he said, 'we should all have healthy appetites by the time we
get home. You'll have to try and spread it out.
Half rations from now on.' He was so engrossed in the study of this new
complication that he did not notice the faint hum from outside the
laager.
'Captain,' called Jacques. 'Can you hear it?' Bruce inclined his head
and listened.
'The trucks!' His voice was loud with relief, and instantly there was an
excited murmur round the laager.
The waiting was over.
They came growling out of the bush into the clear, Heavily loaded,
timber and sheet-iron protruding backwards from under the canopies,
sitting low on their suspensions.
Ruffy leaned from the cab of the leading truck and shouted.
'Hello boss. Where shall we dump?'
'Take it up to the bridge.
Hang on a second and I'll come with you.' Bruce slipped out of the
laager and crossed quickly to Ruffy's truck. He could feel his back
tingling while he was in the open and he slammed the door behind him
with relief.
'I don't relish stopping an arrow,' he said.
'You have any trouble while we were gone?'
'No,' Bruce told him.
'But they're here. They were drumming in the jungle all night.'
'Calling up their buddies,' grunted Ruffy and let out the clutch.
'We'll have some fun before we finish this bridge.
Most probably take them a day or two to get brave, but in the end
