ugh the regulations
were not so strict then as they are now, I met with a great deal of
difficulty in getting all this armament through the Customs. Lord
Ragnall however had letters from the Colonial Office to such authorities
as ruled in Natal, and on our giving a joint undertaking that they were
for defensive purposes only in unexplored territory and not for sale,
they were allowed through. Fortunate did it prove for us in after days
that this matter was arranged.

That night before we went to bed I narrated to Lord Ragnall all the
history of our search for the Holy Flower, which he seemed to find very
entertaining. Also I told him of my adventures, to me far more terrible,
as chairman of the Bona Fide Gold Mine and of their melancholy end.

"The lesson of which is," he remarked when I had finished, "that because
a man is master of one trade, it does not follow that he is master of
another. You are, I should judge, one of the finest shots in the
world, you are also a great hunter and explorer. But when it comes to
companies, Quatermain----! Still," he went on, "I ought to be grateful
to that Bona Fide Gold Mine, since I gather that had it not been for
it and for your rascally friend, Mr. Jacob, I should not have found you
here."

"No," I answered, "it is probable that you would not, as by this time
I might have been far in the interior where a man cannot be traced and
letters do not reach him."

Then he made a few pointed inquiries about the affairs of the mine,
noting my answers down in his pocket-book. I thought this odd but
concluded that he wished to verify my statements before entering into
a close companionship with me, since for aught he knew I might be the
largest liar in the world and a swindler to boot. So I said nothing,
even when I heard through a roundabout channel on the morrow that he had
sought an interview with the late secretary of the defunct company.

A few days later, for I may as well finish with this matter at once, the
astonishing object of these inquiries was made clear to me. One morning
I found upon my table a whole pile of correspondence, at the sight
of which I groaned, feeling sure that it must come from duns and be
connected with that infernal mine. Curiosity and a desire to face the
worst, however, led me to open the first letter which as it happened
proved to be from that very shareholder who had proposed a vote of
confidence in me at the winding-up meeting. By the time that it wa