While the Kenyans work the land, they live under oppressive conditions and under constant threat of violence.

[1] The narrator and main character is Kariuki, a young Kenyan boy living under the oppressive rule of a British plantation owner named Bwana Ruin.

While near a watering hole, Kariuki meets Bwana's nephew Nigel, who is fishing.

He especially enjoys hunting Old Moses, which, according to Kariuki, is the oldest, toughest warthog in the world.

The book ends with Nigel, "the Mzungo Boy", finding and comforting Kariuki.