d gone to stand near
him, stooping down to encourage him with any words at all that might
seem to serve.

"Stick it out, Kazi! We'll stand by! We won't leave you down here!
Remember you've got friends who won't desert you!"

Probably in his agony Kazimoto did not understand a word of it, but the
lieutenant did,--and swiftly took steps to interfere.

"Call the Europeans' cases next!" he shouted, and promptly the German
sergeants stepped down from the platform to marshal us in line. The
lieutenant went through the form of studying the blue papers, and
called out our names. That of Brown was included, but Brown was not in
court and we were kept standing there until he had been fetched from
his tent. He had retired immediately after the hanging to sleep off
the effects of his debauch, and being now deprived of that luxury
arrived between two askaris in a volcanic temper. He insulted the
lieutenant to begin with.

"A diet o' beer an' sausage don't seem to have filled you full o' good
manners, do it?"

The lieutenant scowled, but for the moment chose to ignore the
pleasantry.

"You people are charged," he said, "with entering German territory
otherwise than by a regular road and without reporting at a customs
station. Further, with intending to defraud the customs--with carrying
and possessing arms without a license--with being in possession of
ammunition without a permit--with shooting game without a license--with
filibustering--with intentional homicide, in that you shot and killed
certain men of the Masai tribe within German territory--with wandering
at large without permits and with felonious intent; and last, and this
is the most serious charge, with being spies within the military
meaning of that term. Do you plead guilty or not guilty?"

We were dumb. Even the crack of the heavy whips on poor Kazimoto's
skin ceased to make impression on us. Suffering already from my wound
to the point of nausea, I actually reeled before this new deluge of
trouble, and had to hold on to Fred and Will. They each put an arm
under mine. It was Brown who spoke and stole from our sails what
little wind there might have been.

"Decline to plead!" he shouted boisterously. "You're no judge, you're
a pirate! You're not fit to try natives, let alone white men! You're
a disgrace, that's what you are! All you're fit for is to make a
decent fellow glad he needn't know you!"

"Silence!" roared the lieutenant, banging on th