e quicker you see that the better for you!"

"Oh, rats! Let's take him in with us to Kisumu!" said I, and at that
Professor Schillingschen capitulated.

"Very well," he said. "Kurtz und gut. I will leave the country. Permit
me to take only food enough, and my porters, and one gun!"

"No guns!" said Fred promptly.

Schillingschen sighed resignedly, and we went out of the tent to talk
over ways and means. In spite of our recent experience of Germany's
colonial government we were still so ignorant of the workings of the
mens germanica that we took his surrender at face value.

The problem of getting him down to the lake shore safely was none too
simple. I was soft hearted and headed enough to propose that we should
loose his hands, now that he had surrendered, and permit him reasonable
liberty. Will--least inclined of all of us to cruelty--was disposed to
agree with me. We might have overborne Fred's objections if Coutlass
and Brown, returning from walking off their overnight debauch together,
had not shouted and beckoned us in a mysterious sort of way, as if some
new discovery puzzled them.

We walked about a hundred and fifty yards to where they stood by a row
of low ant-hills. Neither of them was in a sociable frame of mind. It
was obvious from the moment we could see their faces clearly that they
had not called us to enjoy a joke. They stood like two dumb bird-dogs,
pointing, and we had to come about abreast of them before we knew why
we were summoned.

There lay five clean-picked skeletons, one on each ant-hill. One was a
big bird's; one looked like a dog's; the third was a snake's; the
fourth a young antelope's; and the fifth was certainly that of a
yellow village cur, for some of the hairs from the tip of its tail were
remaining, not yet borne off by the ants.

The skeletons lay as if the creatures had died writhing. There were
pegs driven into the earth that had evidently held them in position by
the sinews. Most peculiar circumstance of all, there was a camp-chair
standing very near by, with its feet deep in the red earth, as if a
very heavy man had sat in it.

I went back to the camp and told Kazimoto to bring one of the
professor's men. Kazimoto had to do the talking, for we did not know
the man's language, nor he ours.

Yes, the professor always did that to animals. He liked to sit and
watch them and keep the kites away. He said it was white man's
knowledge (science?). Yes, the anim