at the
declaration of war between England and Germany, the Hun in Africa had
prepared huge stores of munitions and trained thousands of native
troops with the intention of wresting the adjoining ill-defended
territories from their owners.

No wonder that the Huns hugged themselves with delight when by a
disastrous stroke of statesmanship Great Britain exchanged the
crumbling island of Heligoland for some millions of square miles of
undeveloped territory hitherto held by Germany. While Heligoland was
being protected by massive concrete walls and armed by huge guns to
form a practically impregnable bulwark to the North Sea coast of
Germany, England was by peaceful methods developing her new African
acquisition. Germany could then afford to wait until the favourable
opportunity and by force of arms seize and hold the territory that was
once hers and which in the meantime had enormously increased
commercially at the expense of Britain.

But the Kaiser had miscalculated the loyalty of the colonies. Canada,
South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, to say nothing of smaller
offshoots of the Empire, had rallied to the flag. Boers who fourteen
years previously had fought doggedly and determinedly against England
volunteered for service, and their offer was accepted for expeditions
against German West Africa and then against German East, while shoulder
to shoulder with their late enemies were Imperial troops, including
Indian and West African contingents. Amongst the reinforcements from
the latter was the Nth West African Regiment.

By six o'clock breakfast was over and the troops were falling in for
parade and C.O.'s inspection. As Second Lieutenant Wilmshurst crossed
the dusty barrack "square," which was a rectangle enclosed on three
sides by the native huts and on the fourth by the Quartermaster's
"stores" and orderly room, he found that the men of his platoon were
already drawn up in full marching order. At the sight of their young
officer--for it was the first time for several weeks that Wilmshurst
had appeared on parade--a streak of dazzling ivory started and
stretched from end to end of the line as the Haussas' mouths opened
wide in welcoming smiles, displaying a lavish array of teeth that
contrasted vividly with their ebony features.

That Wilmshurst was popular with his men there could be no doubt. Had
it been otherwise not a suspicion of a smile would have appeared upon
their faces. The subaltern had the