ent straight
to the doctor and repeated my complaints. He left for Ujiji the next
day, and the net result of his friendly interference was that the
doctor refused me any sort of attention at all--even a change of
bandages.

Fred and Will did their best for me, but it was little. I read in
their faces, and in their studied cheerfulness when speaking in my
presence, that they had made up their minds I was going to lose the
number of my mess. They went to the commandant and the lieutenant
besides the doctor in efforts to secure for me some sort of
consideration, but without result; and they wrote at least six letters
to the British East African Protectorate government that we ascertained
afterward never reached their destination. They tried to register one
letter, but registration was refused.

"Why don't they jail us simply, and have done with it?"--Will kept
wondering aloud.

"They will when it suits their books," said I. "For the present they
scarcely dare. Word might reach the British government. They're
breaking no international law by holding us here and keeping tabs on
us."

Before many days I grew unable to leave the hard cork mattress on the
camp-bed in Fred's tent. They went again to the commandant, this time
determined to force the issue.

"I will send some one," he told them, and they came away delighted that
strong language should succeed where politeness formerly had failed.

But all the commandant did send was an askari twice a day, to lean on
his rifle in the tent door, leer at me, and march away again.

"He comes to see if I'm dead," said I. "It would be inconvenient to
have me die in jail; there might be inquiries afterward from British
East. After I'm dead and buried they'll jail you two healthy ones, and
keep you until you 'blab'!"

"Why don't we straight out tell 'em we don't know a thing about the
ivory?" wondered Will.

"Because they wouldn't believe us!" Fred answered.

Seven days after the sentry's first call the doctor took to coming in
person to look at me. He never except once stepped inside the tent,
but was satisfied to give me a glance of contempt and go away again,
once or twice taking pains to inspect the Greeks' camp before leaving.
He usually had Schubert trailing in his wake, and gave him stern orders
about sanitation which nobody ever carried out. The sanitary
conditions of that rest-camp were simply non-existent until we came
there, and we had gone to no pains