since I was now quite
weaponless. Then I observed Marut seated on the floor of the hut staring
straight in front of him, and noted that at length even he had ceased to
smile, but that his lips were moving as though he were engaged in prayer
or meditation.

"Marut," I said, "someone has been in this place while we were asleep
and stolen my pistol and knife."

"Yes, Lord," he answered, "and my knife also. I saw them come in the
middle of the night, two men who walked softly as cats, and searched
everything."

"Then why did you not wake me?"

"What would have been the use, Lord? If we had caught hold of the men,
they would have called out and we should have been murdered at once. It
was best to let them take the things, which after all are of no good to
us here."

"The pistol might have been of some good," I replied significantly.

"Yes," he said, nodding, "but at the worst death is easy to find."

"Do you think, Marut, that we could manage to let Harut and the others
know our plight? That smoke which I breathed in England, for instance,
seemed to show me far-off things--if we could get any of it."

"The smoke was nothing, Lord, but some harmless burning powder which
clouded your mind for a minute, and enabled you to see the thoughts that
were in _our_ minds. _We_ drew the pictures at which you looked. Also
here there is none."

"Oh!" I said, "the old trick of suggestion; just what I imagined. Then
there's an end of that, and as the others will think that we are
dead and we cannot communicate with them, we have no hope except in
ourselves."

"Or the Child," suggested Marut gently.

"Look here!" I said with irritation. "After you have just told me that
your smoke vision was a mere conjurer's trick, how do you expect me
to believe in your blessed Child? Who is the Child? What is the Child,
and--this is more important--what can it do? As your throat is going to
be cut shortly you may as well tell me the truth."

"Lord Macumazana, I will. Who and what the Child is I cannot say because
I do not know. But it has been our god for thousands of years, and we
believe that our remote forefathers brought it with them when they were
driven out of Egypt at some time unknown. We have writings concerning it
done up in little rolls, but as we cannot read them they are of no use
to us. It has an hereditary priesthood, of which Harut my uncle, for he
is my uncle, is the head. We believe that the Child is God, or rather
a sym