, and also to leave events to me--in short, not to
give away what I may tell you, no, not even to your sister."

"Why, of course. But--you don't mean to say these savages are
meditating a war--on us?"

"Yes I do. And not only that, but the whole thing is cut and dried, and
it's only a question when to begin. Now I shall be able to answer your
other question. You thought me no end boorish and ungracious yesterday.
Well, the reason why I stuck to old Qubani like a brother, instead of
being of service to you, was that, if I had not, the whole of Gandela
would at this moment be a heap of ashes, and the race-course piled with
the bodies of every man, woman, and child in the place."

"Good Heavens! You don't mean that?" ejaculated Clare, staring at him.

"Certainly I do. There was an impi stationed here--up here where we are
sitting, and at a signal from Qubani it was to rush the whole show. And
then--"

"What was the signal?"

"He was to throw up the red cap he was wearing. It was to be done
during the prize-giving, so as to be less noticeable."

"And--you prevented him?"

"I should think so. I showed him a six-shooter--I had one in each
pocket--and promised to blow his head off if he didn't give me that red
cap right there. Now a native is nothing if not practical, and the fact
of all in Gandela being massacred was nothing to this one if he wasn't
there to see the fun, as, of course, he wouldn't be. So--he handed over
the red cap. I own, though, it was rather a tense moment while he was
sort of hesitating whether to do so or not."

Clare could only gasp, and stared speechless at this man, whom she had
heard her brother-in-law, and others, describe as something of a
coward--and of whom she, in spite of her better instincts, had thought
sorely and with resentment only yesterday, by reason of what she termed
to herself his `rudeness' in flatly refusing to do what she had asked
him. Good Heavens! And all the time, by his nerve and cool-headedness,
he had saved her and the whole settlement from a hideous death. What a
cool, masterful, resourceful brain was here.

"But, Mr Lamont," she broke forth at last, "how did you know that this
awful thing was contemplated--was to happen?"

"Well, that's something of a story. I heard it among them--heard the
whole scheme in all its details. Of course they don't know that, or I
shouldn't be alive here, talking to you at this moment. Indeed, the
amazement of the