o, gentlemen, no! Not too late! I tell all--I tell quickly! Only
listen! Bwana Schillingschen will shoot me if he knows! He is very
bad man--very kali--very fierce--and oh, too clever! You must protect
me!"

He could hardly get the words out, for the knees of our porters pinned
him down, and his chin was pressed hard on the floor.

"I ordered that loin-cloth removed!" was all Fred commented. One of
the porters attended to the task, and the Baganda hurried with his
tale, drawing in breath in noisy gasps like a man with asthma because
of the weight of his captors on him and the strained position of his
neck.

"Bwana Schillingschen is sending me and many other men--not all
Baganda, but of many tribes--to go through all parts and say Islam is
the only good religion--all Germans are high-priests of Islam--soon the
Germans are coming with great armies to destroy the British and all
other foolish people who have not accepted Islam as their creed! All
are to get ready to receive the Germans."

"Where is Schillingschen now?" demanded Fred.

"Beyond Mumias."

"How far beyond Mumias?"

"Who knows? He is marching."

"In which direction? What for?"

"To Mount Elgon. I do not know what for."

"How do you know he is going to Mount Elgon?"

"He told me to go there and find him after my work is done."

"How long were you to continue at what you call your work?"

"A month or five weeks."

"So he expects to stay a long time up there?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I do not know."

"Has he many loads with him?"

"Very many provisions for a long time."

"Guns?"

"Several. I do not know how many. He gives guns to some of his men
when he gets to where the government will not know about it."

"How many men has he?"

"Not many. Ten, I think."

"How can they carry all those loads?"

"He brought a hundred porters from Kisumu to Mumias, and there bought
more than forty donkeys, sending the porters back again."

"Then are the men he has with him his own?"

"Yes."

"From German East?"

"Yes."

"What orders did he give you besides to tell these lies about German
conquest?"

"None.

"Pass me that whip!" ordered Fred. There was no whip, but the Baganda
could not know that.

"He gave the same order to all of us," he yelled. "We are to stay out
a month or five weeks unless we meet white men. If we meet white men
we are to discover the white men's plans by talking with their
servants, and then hurry to