bs that might be lobbed
into their retreat, the door of the second room was protected by a wall
of sandbags backed with massive slabs of African teak.

By the aid of flaming brands held by the blacks Wilmshurst was able to
make a rapid, but none the less complete examination of the shelter.
Evidently it was the headquarters dug-out, judging by the smashed
telephone, the pile of broken instruments, and the heap of paper ash
that littered the floor.

At the subaltern's order the blacks prodded the walls with their
bayonets and hammered the floor with the butt ends of their rifles, but
no suspicion of the existence of a concealed "funk-hole" was to be
traced.

"Precious little here," commented Wilmshurst. "I'll have to keep the
place open for the colonel's inspection, I suppose."

Regaining the open air he posted a sentry over the entrance and,
collecting the German prisoners, awaited the arrival of the C.O.

By this time all resistance on the summit of M'ganga was over. Away to
the north-east came occasional reports of rifle-firing, showing that
the Pathans and the Rhodesian horse were engaging the fugitives.

The one fly in the ointment was the escape of von Gobendorff. There
was, of course, the possibility that he had been shot or had contrived
to slip away during the action. In the latter case he had the cordon
of troops to take into consideration; but knowing the wiliness of the
man and the fluency with which he spoke English, Dudley began to feel
rather dubious concerning the Hun's apprehension.

Otherwise the brilliant little affair was highly successful.
Practically the whole of von Linderfelt's staff had been either killed
or captured; most of the Germans in the firing-line had shared a
similar fate, while the surviving Askaris were either captured or had
escaped in small numbers through the lines of the encircling forces.

Von Lindenfelt had not counted upon the use of light artillery against
his strong position, but the fire of the mountain batteries, assisted
by the seaplane's bombs, had proved terribly destructive. Of the
4.1-inch guns mounted for the defence not one remained intact, their
destruction materially helping the Waffs in their frontal attack. A
considerable quantity of military stores also fell into the hands of
the victors, much of the booty being found upon examination to have
been sent to German East Africa during the last three months.

As a result of the operation a large hosti