Rumuruti
Laikipia July 22nd ‘08
Mr
and Mrs. Charles Minch,
Minneapolis,
Kansas.
My
dear brother and Sister
I
suppose you will likely get the news before this reaches you.
Its a
big day for a man when he gets married but its nothing
compared with
the day when he becomes daddy. Our baby boy was born on the
morning
of July 18th. He was a wee little fellow weighing
only 6
½ lbs. but in fine condition and has grown wonderfully the
first
four days of his life and will soon be out chasing the
elephants with
a stick. Well he will need to. He’s had his experiences
already. Our bed room faces the veranda of our house with a
window on the
veranda side. On the night of the second day of his life a
leopard
came onto the veranda and every time the little fellow set up
a howl
up came the leopard with his paws on the window glasses. I was
fearfully worried and hardly knew what to do. Luckily Florence
was
feeling very well and showed fine pluck as she always does. I
tried
to frighten it away but it would soon return again. I was
afraid to
shoot it through the window for fear I would not kill it, and
it
would rush in through the open window. But when I saw nothing
else
could be done I watched my chances. It sat most of the time
right
under the window but once walked off a little distance and I
fired at
it through an upper window pane but did not succeed in killing
it as
one rarely can unless you shoot them through the heart. I am
sure I
hit it but it scampered off and we haven’t seen it since. Well
not
many of us get such a welcome into this world and surely with
such
experience the little fellow ought some day to become a brave
man. We received your letter a few days ago saying you were
sending us
some money. If I know you right you wont get angry if we dont
use it
to organize a Sunday School or some such affair. I suppose it
is’nt
nice for a missionary to talk like this but when some people
send us
money they dont seem to think we need things as other people
do but
think we ought to make a long sober face and make a convert
for about
every five cents we spend and I guess they would be five cent
converts too like the people who send the money. No even if I
am a
missionary I like to be like other people, have a good time if
I can,
say “Dog gone It” if I feel like it, and even commit the awful
sin of going out hunting once in a while so even at the risk
of
giving you an awful shock and perhaps never again get anything
from
you I am going to say I am going to use the money to get a
gun. I
have an old gun which I expect will blow my head off every
time I use
it and it’s a bit too risky to travel about here with a gun
like
that. I wanted a good gun for protection a long time ago. I
know of
only one that is really safe if one is suddenly attacked by an
animal. It shoots 10 shots just about as fast as one can pull
the
trigger. The force of each shot prepares the gun for the next
shot. The butt of the gun comes off and forms the case for the
other parts
so you can carry it strapped around you like a pistol. It
shoots
1000 yards accurately and will kill elephant, rhinoceros or
any other
animal. It is always handy at your belt and you can shoot as
quickly
as you can lay your hand on the gun. With such a gun you feel
perfectly safe even in the most dangerous places because no
animal
could possibly get near you [here the top half of the second
page is
missing] have no idea how plentiful these animals are. They go
in
herds not only of two or three but often as many as two or
three
hundred. There is no end of all sorts of game birds. Strange
to say
one of the very best eating is a sort of a wild guinea fowl. I
have
seen them as many as five hundred in a flock and the fun of
hunting
them is they fly only a short distance and you can follow them
up
sometimes for hours. But I must close. Our boy is going to be
called just plain John after his daddy, grand daddy and great
grand
daddy. Of course I dont need to say we are proud and happy. I
always thought I liked Florence about as much as I possibly
could but
I believe now I like her twice as much as I ever did before.
You
know a man does sometimes wonder just how much he could do in
this
line and when he holds well in his arms a splendid baby boy
then he
imagines if he is not a little better he is at least as good
as any
man he ever met. But I must close. Many thanks for your kind
interest in our work and with the assurance of truest
friendship and
fellowship
I
am your brother John.
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