they conveyed to me no meaning. The negro was a veritable
giant in stature, showily dressed, with one of those gaudily-coloured
neckties that delight the heart of Africans, while on his fat brown hand
was a large ring of very light-coloured metal that looked suspiciously
like brass. His boots were new, and of enormous size, but as he stood he
shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, showing that he was far
from comfortable in his civilized habiliments.

Without approaching closer I picked up my things and dressed rapidly,
then walked forward to join my companion.

"Scars!" he cried, as soon as I stood before him. "I had quite forgotten
you. This is my mother's confidential adviser, Kouaga."

Then, turning to the grinning ebon-faced giant he uttered some rapid
words in his own language and told him my name, whereupon he snapped
fingers in true native fashion, the negro showing an even set of white
teeth as an expression of pleasure passed over his countenance.

"We little thought that we were being watched this afternoon," Omar said
to me, smiling and throwing himself down upon the sand, an example
followed by the negro and myself. "It seems that Kouaga arrived in
Eastbourne this morning, but there are strong reasons why none should
know that he has seen me. Therefore he followed me here to hold palaver
at a spot where we should not be observed."

"You have a letter, I see."

"Yes," he said slowly, re-reading the strange lines of hieroglyphics.
"The news it contains necessitates me leaving for Africa immediately."

"For Africa!" I cried dismayed. "Are you going?"

"Yes, I must. It is imperative."

"Then I shall lose you earlier than I anticipated," I observed with
heart-felt sorrow at the prospect of parting with my only chum. "It is
true, as you predicted, our lives lie very far apart."

The negro lifted his hat from his brow as if its weight oppressed him,
then turning to me, said slowly and with distinctness in his own tongue:

"I bring the words of the mighty Naya unto her son. None dare disobey her
commands on pain of death. She is a ruler above all rulers; before her
armed men monarchs bow the knee, at her frown nations tremble. In order
to bring the palaver she would make with her son I have journeyed for
three moons by land and sea to reach him and deliver the royal staff in
secret. I have done my duty. It is for Omar to obey. Kouaga has spoken."

"Let me briefly explain, Scarsmere," my friend int