ng, while upon the
starlit sky was still reflected a red ominous glare from the fires raging
in the city that no effort of man could subdue. At the gate leading
outward to the next court stood two sentries with drawn swords gleaming
in the moonbeams, mute and motionless like statues, while echoing along
the colonnade was the measured tramp of the soldier as he paced before
the entrance of the gilded Hall of Audience, the scene of so many
stirring dramas in the nation's history. From the divan whereon I sat I
could see the great Emerald Throne glittering green under a brilliant
light, with its golden image of the sacred crocodile and its banner
bearing the hideous vampire-bat, while around it were still grouped the
officials of the household, the body-guard of faithful Dagombas, the
slaves ready with their great fans, and Gankoma, the executioner, with
his bright double-edged _doka_, all standing in patience, awaiting the
coming of their royal master.

The Court of Mo was, I reflected, a strange admixture of European
civilization and culture with African superstition and barbarity. On the
one hand the buildings were of marble or stone, magnificent in their
proportions, with decorations in the highest style of Moorish art, the
arms were of the latest pattern surreptitiously imported from England and
many of them faithfully copied by skilful, enlightened workmen;
electricity was known and used, and the tastes of the people showed a
refinement almost equal to that of any European state. Yet in religion
there prevailed the crudest and most ignorant forms of superstition, one
of which was the horrible practice of burying alive all sick persons,
while the custom of the executioner accompanying the reigning monarch
everywhere, ready to obey the royal command, was distinctly a relic of
savage barbarism.

"A few moments ago you spoke of secrets that must be preserved," I said
presently, turning to Omar.

"Yes," he answered slowly. "But my heart is too full of poignant grief to
think of them. To-night the secrets are mine alone; to-morrow you shall
be in possession of at least one of them. I have, however, much yet to
do, I see, before I rest," he added, glancing over his shoulder into the
brilliant hall where stood the empty throne.

Then rising wearily, he sighed for Goliba's dead daughter, and weighted
by his rich robes, slowly strode across to the arched entrance from which
the light streamed forth, and as he set foot upon