The African Queen

Bread of heaven Bread of heaven

In this barren wiIderness

Song of praises Song of praises

I wiII ever give to thee

Be the Lord my righteousness

Song of praises Song of praises

I wiII ever give to thee...

Death of death and heII's...

Song of praises Song of praises

I wiII ever give to thee

When I tread the verge of Jordan

Song of praises

I wiII ever give to thee

Amen.

Amen

-Hello, Reverend. -Mr. Allnut.

-Here's your mail. -Thank you.

Sorry l'm late, but one thing and another kept me in Limbasi.

You know how it is. Maybe you don't.

-Good morning, Mr. Allnut. -Good morning, miss.

Splendid, they've come at last. My rose trees.

-You'll stay for tea? -Don't mind if l do.

l sure need something in my condition.

l'm in for a going over when l get back to the mine.

Them Belgians are calling me all the names they can think of,

but l don't mind being cussed out in a foreign language.

They won't fire me.

Ain't nobody in Africa except yours truly

can get up a good head of steam on the old African Queen.

You take sugar, l seem to remember, Mr. Allnut?

That's right, miss. Couple of spoonfuls.

And milk?

That's right, miss.

-Bread and butter? -That's right, miss.

-Brother. -Thank you.

Just listen to this stomach of mine.

The way it sounds, you'd think l had a hyena inside me.

Do have some more bread and butter, Mr. Allnut.

Thanks, miss. l... l don't mind if l do.

Excuse me.

Queer thing, ain't it? What l mean is,

what do you suppose makes a man's stomach carry on like this?

Try a rock cake, Mr. Allnut.

No, thanks, miss.

Herbie Morton's a bishop.

-Who's that, dear? -Dear, surely you remember Herbie.

Blond, a bit younger than l am, ruddy-faced.

He sang a solo at the commemoration concert.

Holy, Holy, l think it was.

l think l remember. lt was so long ago.

-He's a bishop now. -Splendid.

Yes, l'd say Herbie was a bit younger than me,

four or five years. Surprising, really.

He wasn't up to much as a student,

didn't have more than his share of the social graces.

Then, of course, he married well.

Yes. That manufacturer's widow.

What was his name, Griggs? Briggs. That was it. Alfred Briggs.

Soap flakes, l think. Mrs. Alfred Briggs.

Not to take anything away from Herbie. l'm delighted for him, naturally.

Of course.

Ain't a thing l can do about it.

Itwas HoIy, HoIy.

More tea, Mr. Allnut?

Thank you, no, miss. l reckon l'd better be shoving off

if l'm to get back to the mine before tomorrow night.

-Don't hurry, Mr. Allnut. -Do stay for dinner.

Thanks just the same.

l probably won't be coming around this way for a couple of months.

Really? Well, what about our mail?

Don't look like there's going to be any mail for a while.

Why not?

-The Germans will hold it up. -Why, in heaven's name?

-On account of the war. -War? Where, Mr. Allnut?

-Europe. -lndeed. Between whom?

Germany, England...

-England? -England?

-That's right. -You really mean war?

Yeah, that's what they tell me.

Germans claim the British started it, British claim it was the Germans.

Well, what do you know about it? What's happened?

Well, let's see. l... That's all l can remember.

Yes, the French are in it, and all them little countries.

Austria, Hungary, Belgium, Spain.

l forget who's with who.

-ls that all you can tell us? -That's all l know.

l'll see what l can find out when l get to Limbasi.

Well, l'm wondering what our position will be. Enemy aliens.

What harm could anybody do the Germans

in this godforsaken place?

God has not forsaken this place, Mr. Allnut,

as my brother's presence here bears witness.

-No offense, miss. -War.

Yeah. Yeah, looks like it.

Well, l'll be shoving off. Thanks for the tea.

Take care of yourselves.

-Goodbye. Thank you. -Goodbye, Mr. Allnut.

Wretched little man. What indifference. He's a Canadian.

Doesn't he realize he's in this, too?

Shouldn't we perhaps try to get to Limbasi while we can?

A good shepherd doesn't desert his flock

when the wolves are prowling.

We must ask the Almighty to bless the arms of England

and carry her through her hour of trial.

Rose, go into the house and stay there.

What's the meaning of this outrage? How dare you!

Samuel!

Dear, here you are. And without your hat on.

Didn't you hear me calling you?

Yes, but l must get the seeds in now. lt's a bit late. August.

But, dear, you know it doesn't matter when one plants in Central Africa.

Africa?

Brother, dear, you're not at all well.

Africa?

-l'll help you off with your things. -Rose.

Brother. Brother. Dear.

Smite the Amalekites, O Lord. Smite them, hip and thigh.

Amen.

Cold. Foggy.

Where's Rose?

Rose, are you down there in the shop?

l'm here.

Bring me a nice, hot cup of tea.

l'm here, Brother, beside you.

l try so hard, you know, to study.

Hebrew, Greek. l've got no facility.

lf l don't pass the examinations, l shall volunteer as a missionary.

Rose, too.

Not comely among the maidens, but she, too, can be a servant

in the house of the Lord.

Even for such as she, God has a goodly purpose.

l'm going to put my books away. l'm not going to work anymore.

lf l don't pass, it'll just mean that God has other work for me.

Thy will be done.

O Lord, if it be thy will, let me distinguish myself.

Give me a call here in England at home.

Mother would be so proud.

O Lord, l've tried so hard.

So they been here, too, eh?

After l left here the other day, the drums started in the forest.

Pretty soon, my boys was moaning and rolling their eyes.

l asked them what the trouble was, and they told me the drums said

the soldiers was rounding up their people

and marching them off and burning their villages

so they wouldn't have no homes to come back to.

Sure enough, when l got to the mine, everything was a shambles.

My boys took one look and bolted into the forest.

The way l look at it, they plan to make soldiers of the natives

and take over all Africa. Where's the Reverend?

He's in there. He's dead.

Well, now, ain't that awful?

lf they'd up and shoot a reverend couldn't do them a bit of harm,

-well, there ain't nobody safe. -They didn't shoot him, Mr. Allnut,

but they may as well have done.

That's certainly too bad, miss. That's all l can say.

-When'd he die, miss? -He died early this morning.

Excuse me, miss. What l mean to say is, what with the climate and all,

the quicker we get him under the ground, the better.

lf you don't mind my saying so. You got a spade?

Behind the bungalow.

l expect he'd like to be buried in the shade.

l'll tell you what. While l'm digging the grave,

you get your things together, all the things you want to carry,

and then we can clear out of here in a hurry.

The Germans might come back anytime.

-Why should they? -They'll be back, all right,

looking for the African Queen.

They'd give a lot to get their hands on her, you bet.

And what's in her, too.

Blasting gelatin, tinned grub, cylinders of oxygen and hydrogen,

heaps of things them Germans could use. You can trust them for that.

The Germans.

See, l figure we could go somewheres behind an island where it's quiet

-and we can talk about what to do. -l'll get ready.

Fine. l'll be as quick as l can.

Let's go, miss. Let's go while the going's good.

Pardon me.

Mind taking the tiller, miss? Come on.

-But l can't steer. -Come on.

A little to starboard, miss. No, no, the other way.

So far, so good.

Here we are, safe and sound, as you might say.

-The question is, what next? -Quite.

We got heaps of grub here, miss, so we're all right as far as that goes.

Two thousand cigarettes. Two cases of gin.

We could stay here for months if we wanted to.

lt's not a bad place to sit out a war, then, is it, miss?

All the comforts of home, including running water.

We simply can't remain here in this backwater

until the war is over, Mr. Allnut.

Can't we, miss? You got the map.

Show me a way out and l'll take it.

The British will certainly launch an attack.

The only question is, which way will they come?

Maybe from the sea, up the railway to Limbasi.

But that would put the Germans between us and them.

Mightn't our soldiers come in from British East, Mr. Allnut?

Yeah, they might, but the war in Europe would be over

before they ever hacked their way through that forest.

We're in a bit of a fix, miss, no matter which way you look at it.