Sanders bitterly. "O! Mimbimi, if I could have you now," he said with
passionate intensity.

"I am sure you would be very rude to him," said Hamilton soothingly. "He
must be somewhere, my dear chap; do you think he has killed the poor old
bird?"

Sanders shook his head.

"The lord knows what he has done or what has happened to him," he said.

It was at that moment that the messenger came. The _Zaire_ was tied to
the bank of the Upper Isisi on the edge of the forest of Bim-bi, and the
Houssas were bivouacked on the bank, their red fires gleaming in the
gathering darkness.

The messenger came from the forest boldly; he showed no fear of Houssas,
but walked through their lines, waving his long stick as a bandmaster
will flourish his staff. And when the sentry on the plank that led to
the boat had recovered from the shock of seeing the unexpected
apparition, the man was seized and led before the Commissioner.

"O, man," said Sanders, "who are you and where do you come from? Tell me
what news you bring."

"Lord," said the man glibly, "I am Mimbimi's own headman."

Sanders jumped up from his chair.

"Mimbimi!" he said quickly; "tell me what message you bring from that
thief!"

"Lord," said the man, "he is no thief, but a high prince."

Sanders was peering at him searchingly.

"It seems to me," he said, "that you are of the Ochori."

"Lord, I was of the Ochori," said the messenger, "but now I am with
Mimbimi,--his headman, following him through all manners of danger.
Therefore I have no people or nation--wa! Lord, here is my message."

Sanders nodded.

"Go on," he said, "messenger of Mimbimi, and let your news be good for
me."

"Master," said the man, "I come from the great one of the forest who
holds all lives in his two hands, and fears not anything that lives or
moves, neither devil nor Bim-bi nor the ghosts that walk by night nor
the high dragons in the trees----"

"Get to your message, my man," said Sanders, unpleasantly; "for I have a
whip which bites sharper than the dragons in the trees and moves more
swiftly than m'shamba."

The man nodded.

"Thus says Mimbimi," he resumed. "Go you to the place near the Crocodile
River where Sandi sits, say Mimbimi the chief loves him, and because of
his love Mimbimi will do a great thing. Also he said," the man went on,
"and this is the greatest message of all. Before I speak further you
must make a book of my words."

Sanders frowned. It was an unusual req