not exactly familiar, and yet resembling
the speech of civilized men. It sounded like one of those impossible
languages which sometimes we hear in our dreams.

"What lingo is that?" said the amazed Carlier. "In the first moment I
fancied the fellow was going to speak French. Anyway, it is a different
kind of gibberish to what we ever heard."

"Yes," replied Kayerts. "Hey, Makola, what does he say? Where do they
come from? Who are they?"

But Makola, who seemed to be standing on hot bricks, answered hurriedly,
"I don't know. They come from very far. Perhaps Mrs. Price will
understand. They are perhaps bad men."

The leader, after waiting for a while, said something sharply to Makola,
who shook his head. Then the man, after looking round, noticed Makola's
hut and walked over there. The next moment Mrs. Makola was heard
speaking with great volubility. The other strangers--they were six in
all--strolled about with an air of ease, put their heads through
the door of the storeroom, congregated round the grave, pointed
understandingly at the cross, and generally made themselves at home.

"I don't like those chaps--and, I say, Kayerts, they must be from the
coast; they've got firearms," observed the sagacious Carlier.

Kayerts also did not like those chaps. They both, for the first time,
became aware that they lived in conditions where the unusual may be
dangerous, and that there was no power on earth outside of themselves
to stand between them and the unusual. They became uneasy, went in and
loaded their revolvers. Kayerts said, "We must order Makola to tell them
to go away before dark."

The strangers left in the afternoon, after eating a meal prepared for
them by Mrs. Makola. The immense woman was excited, and talked much with
the visitors. She rattled away shrilly, pointing here and there at the
forests and at the river. Makola sat apart and watched. At times he got
up and whispered to his wife. He accompanied the strangers across the
ravine at the back of the station-ground, and returned slowly looking
very thoughtful. When questioned by the white men he was very strange,
seemed not to understand, seemed to have forgotten French--seemed to
have forgotten how to speak altogether. Kayerts and Carlier agreed that
the nigger had had too much palm wine.

There was some talk about keeping a watch in turn, but in the evening
everything seemed so quiet and peaceful that they retired as usual. All
night they were disturbe