the columns returned, ten days
after, without having exchanged more than a shot or two with the
enemy.

They found that the country round the lake was thickly inhabited.
Many of the villages had been burnt and, in all cases, the sacred
trees had been cut down. It was quite clear that the spirit of the
enemy was greatly broken, and that the end was approaching.

"We must certainly congratulate ourselves upon having a comfortable
time of it, here," Lisle said, "instead of a ten days' tramp,
without any great result. We can manage to keep ourselves dry in
this hut, now that our men have covered it thickly with palm
leaves; whereas they have had to sleep in the open, pretty nearly
every night."

"It was good for them," Hallett said; "the fellows looked
altogether too spick and span, when they marched in. It is just as
well that they should get a little experience of the work we have
been doing, for months. I saw them, as they marched in, look with
astonishment at the state of our men's garments--or rather, I may
say, their rags. They would have grown haughty, if they had not had
a sample of the work; and their uniforms looked very different,
when they came back, from what they were when they marched away.
There is nothing like a fortnight's roughing it in the bush to take
a man, whether white or black, a peg or two down in his own
estimation.

"I was amused, the first day they arrived, when I saw their faces
at the sight of their rations. It was quite a picture. Thank
goodness we have had nothing to grumble about, in that way, since
we got our box from the coast. Chocolate for breakfast, brandy and
water at dinner, preserved meat, are quite a different thing from
the stuff they manage to give us--two or three ounces of meat,
about once a week. Those boxes of biscuits, too, have been
invaluable. The ration biscuits were for the most part wet through,
and there wasn't a wholesome crunch in a dozen of them. We have
certainly improved a lot in appearance, during the last fortnight;
and I believe that it is due to the feeding, more than the rest."

"It is due, no doubt, to both," Lisle said; "but certainly the
feeding has had a good deal to do with it."

"Those tins of soup," said Hallett, "have been really splendid. I
believe I have gained seven or eight pounds in weight, in spite of
this sweltering heat."

"You have certainly filled out a bit. I was rather thinking of
asking you to hand over all the soups to me, so