hen:
'Madam, ich liebe Sie!' "

"Thank you," said Birnier quietly. "I, too, would say that."

"Ach, sprechen Sie Deutsch?" demanded zu Pfeiffer quickly.

"No, unfortunately I don't speak it, but I understand a little; and
particularly Heine."

"Ach, Gott!"

The note was of satisfaction. A gong sounded. Zu Pfeiffer turned sharply:
"Come, Herr Professor, let us go to dinner. You would wish to wash?"

The bungalow, unusually lofty, was divided into three compartments. The
ceiling, made of stout white calico, to shelter from snakes and the
continual dust from the wood borers, was suspended from the rafters like
the roof of a marquee tent. The centre room was furnished with cane lounge
chairs like a smoking-room and decorated with skins, native musical
instruments, spears and shields; drums served as small tables with
elephant's toe-nails for ash trays.

In the bedroom was a brass bedstead and mosquito net. Behind was a
bathroom having a corrugated cistern upon the cross beams which gave force
for a shower. The towels and appointments were specklessly clean. When
Birnier appeared he found zu Pfeiffer sprawled in the lounge. On a red
lacquer tray upon a great war drum, covered with the striped skin of a
zebra, was a crystal liqueur set and a large silver box of Egyptian
cigarettes.

"Ach, Professor," said he, "it is good to speak to a white man again" (by
which he meant an equal). "Please be seated, I beg you. A little liqueur
is good for the aperitif and a cigarette; for there is no time for another
cigar."

As Birnier sat he remarked the blonde head of the lieutenant in his
meticulous uniform touched with gold and caught a glimpse of the jewelled
bracelet of ivory and the Chinese finger-nail.

Another summons of the gong brought zu Pfeiffer to his feet. As he led his
guest out through the side verandah along a screened porch to the mess
room, built away from the main building to keep away the plague of flies,
a native girl whose close-wrapped white robes revealed a lithe figure,
flitted through a doorway. The table was set in immaculate linen, aglitter
with glass and decorated with a profusion of wild orchids. Behind the
chairs stood two negroes in spotless white, immobile. On each plate were
hors d'oeuvres of anchovy and cheese upon a patterned piece of toast.
Salted almonds, sweets, and olives were in green china; wine glasses of
three kinds. Broiled fish followed the soup.

"So, Professor," remarked th