the open air again, but
the contrast was sharper as we thought of the poor boy we had just left.
What if imprisonment, even for a comparatively short time, was before
him?

The native end of the Courthouse had emptied out its malodorous crowd,
but this was nothing to the number of those who had been unable to gain
admission, for to-day the whole township seemed to grow Kafirs, who had
come in from near and far by reason of the excitement of the case. Some
were squatting around in groups, lustily discussing it; others lounging
around the general stores; while others again were shaping a course for
the nearest canteen. All had sticks, and not a few a pair of them.

"The sooner they pass a bye-law against carrying kerries in the streets
the better," said Brian, as we walked over to the hotel. "There are
enough of these chaps here to-day to take the town if they made up their
minds. Hullo!"

The last was evoked by the sound of a great voice haranguing one of the
groups we were passing. Looking round, we recognised Sibuko.

This pestilent savage was squatting on his haunches, holding forth
volubly, emphasising his points with a flourish of his kerrie in the
air, or bringing it down with a whack on the ground. But to me he was
of secondary interest beside a face in the group that caught my eye.

"Brian, twig that chap three doors off from Sibuko," I said hurriedly.
"That's the one who was going to cut my throat in the cave that morning.
By Jove! I wonder if he remembers the knock-out I gave him. I
wouldn't mind repeating it either."

"Well, you can't--not here and now. In the first place, there are too
many of them; in the next, Shattuck would fine you about twenty pounds;
and thirdly, we don't want to stir up that stew over again."

The hotel was pretty full, and the first person to catch my eye as we
entered the dining-room, rather late, was that infernal Trask, who had
calmly appropriated the seat next to Beryl, and which I had mentally
marked out for myself. Moreover, he was in train of trying to be
excessively funny, which was his way of keeping everybody's spirits up.

"Hallo, Holt," he sang out. "Got your seat, I'm afraid. We'd given you
up. Plenty of room down there, old chap. By the way, how are things
going?"

"Well, we think," I answered curtly, moving to the vacant part at the
far end of the room.

"Ha-ha! Holt seems a bit raggy to-day about something," I distinctly
heard Trask say. "W