he been less of a trial Sanders
would not have allowed him to go into the interior without a stronger
protest. As it was, Sanders had turned out of his own bedroom, and had
put all his slender resources at the disposal of the Cabinet Minister
(taking his holiday, by the way, during the long recess), and had
wearied himself in order to reach some subject of interest where he and
his guest could meet on common ground.

"I shall have to let him go," he said to Hamilton, when the two had met
one night after Mr. Blowter had retired to bed, "I spent the whole of
this afternoon discussing the comparative values of mosquito nets, and
he is such a perfect ass that you cannot snub him. If he had only had
the sense to bring a secretary or two he would have been easier to
handle."

Hamilton laughed.

"When a man like that travels," he said, "he ought to bring somebody who
knows the ways and habits of the animal. I had a bright morning with him
going into the question of boots."

"But what of Mimbimi?"

"Mimbimi is rather a worry to me. I do not know him at all," said
Sanders with a puzzled frown. "Ahmet, the spy, has seen one of the
chiefs who attended the palaver, which apparently was very impressive.
Up to now nothing has happened which would justify a movement against
him; the man is possibly from the French Congo."

"Any news of Bosambo?" asked Hamilton.

Sanders shook his head.

"So far as I can learn," he said grimly, "he has gone on _Cape Coast
Castle_ for a real aboriginal jag. There will be trouble for Bosambo
when he comes back."

"What a blessing it would be now," sighed Hamilton, "if we could turn
old man Blowter into his tender keeping." And the men laughed
simultaneously.

V

There was a time, years and years ago, when the Ochori people set a
great stake on the edge of the forest by the Mountain. This they smeared
with a paint made by the admixture of camwood and copal gum.

It was one of the few intelligent acts which may be credited to the
Ochori in those dull days, for the stake stood for danger. It marked the
boundary of the N'gombi lands beyond which it was undesirable that any
man of the Ochori should go.

It was not erected without consideration. A palaver which lasted from
the full of one moon to the waning of the next, sacrifices of goats and
sprinkling of blood, divinations, incantations, readings of devil marks
on sandy foreshores; all right and proper ceremonies were gone through
befor