selzogene, and it will be seen that our lonely official did not fare so
badly. The era of "bully" beef and other canned abominations had not
yet set in.

His dinner over, John Ames lit a pipe and adjourned to a cane chair
before his office door to await the appearance of Inglefield. The day
was hot and drowsy, and he wore the light attire customary in Rhodesia--
shirt and trousers to wit, and leather belt--and on his head a
wide-brimmed hat of the "cowboy" order; but the heat notwithstanding, a
shiver ran through his frame, bringing with it a not unwarranted
misgiving.

"This infernal fever again," he said to himself half aloud. "How the
mischief am I going to get through the rainy season? No. I really must
apply for three months' leave, and get to some cool place at the
seaside. If they won't give it me I'll resign. I'm not going to turn
into a premature wreck to please anybody."

There was very little fear of this alternative. John Ames was far too
valuable an official for his superiors to bring themselves to part with
so readily. His thorough knowledge of the natives and their ways, his
consummate tact in dealing with them, and his scrupulous and
unquestionable probity, had already rendered him a man of mark in his
department; but withal it never occurred to him for a moment to
overestimate himself, or that his chances were one whit better than
those of anybody else.

In due course Inglefield arrived, and with him Nanzicele and the squad
of police whose conduct was under investigation. John Ames was attended
by his native messengers--a brace of stalwart Matabele--and, Madula's
people having been convened, the investigation began.

Even here the picturesque element was not wanting. The open space of
the compound was nearly filled; the police ranged in a double file on
the one side, the people of Madula under Samvu, the chief's brother,
squatting in a semicircle on the other. Inglefield occupied a chair
beside John Ames, his orderly behind him, and his interpreter--for his
acquaintance with the language was but scanty--rendering the words of
each witness. And these were legion; and as the hearing progressed,
both sides became more and more excited, to such an extent that when
Nanzicele was making his statement, audible murmurs of dissent and
disgust, among which such epithets as "liar" were not undiscernible,
arose from Samvu's followers. More than once John Ames would intervene,
quiet but decisiv