This net was to be nearly ten feet square and twelve high, with a calico
roof of its own drawn taut to the ceiling of the room, and walls of
mosquito netting, weighted at the foot with a deep fold of calico, and
falling from ceiling to floor, with a wide double overlapping curtain for
a doorway. Imagine an immense four-poster bed-net, ten by ten by twelve,
swung taut within a larger room, and a fair idea of the dining-net will
have been formed. A room within a room, and within the inner room we
hoped to find a paradise at mealtime in comparison to the purgatory of
the last few months.
But the sewing did not end at that. The lubras' methods of washing had
proved most disastrous to my meagre wardrobe; and the resources of the
homestead were taxed to the utmost to provide sufficient patching
material to keep the missus even decently clothed.
"Wait for the waggons," the Maluka sang cheerily every time he found me
hunting in the store (unbleached calico or mosquito netting being
unsuitable for patching).
Cheon openly disapproved of this state of affairs, and was inclined to
blame the Maluka.
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