d, and came back by the river path.

Here, by all accounts, he met Bosambo, and would have passed on; but the
Chief of the Ochori, being in a curious mind and being, moreover,
suspicious, was impressed by the importance of the messenger, and made
inquiries....

An old man is a great lover of life, and after the witch-doctor's head
had been twice held under water--for the river was providentially
near--he gasped the truth.

* * * * *

The three missioners were very grateful guests indeed. They were the
more grateful because Patricia Hamilton was an unexpected hostess. They
clicked their heels and kissed her hand and drank her health many times
in good hock. The dinner was a feast worthy of Lucullus, they swore, the
wine was perfect, and the coffee--which Abiboo handed round with a
solemn face--was wonderful.

They sat chatting for a time, and then the bearded man looked at his
watch.

"To bed, gentlemen," he said gaily. "We leave you, Herr Commissioner, in
good friendship, we trust?"

"Oh, most excellent," said Sanders awkwardly, for he was a poor liar,
and knew that his spies were waiting on the bank to "pick up" these
potential enemies of his.

He watched them go ashore and disappear into the darkness of the forest
path that leads to the village.

The moon was rising over the tall trees, and an expectant gathering of
Akasava notables were waiting for a white spokesman who came not, when
Bosambo and his bodyguard were engaged in lifting three unconscious men
and laying them in a large canoe. He himself paddled the long boat to
midstream, where two currents run swiftly, one to the sea and one to the
Isisi River, which winds for a hundred miles until it joins the Congo.

"Go with God," said Bosambo piously, as he stepped into his own canoe,
and released his hold of the other with its slumbering freight, "for if
your king is so great, he will bring you to your own lands; and if he is
not great, then you are liars. O Abiboo"--he spoke over his shoulder to
the sergeant of Houssas--"tell me, how many of the magic white stones of
Bonesi did you put in their drink?"

"Bosambo, I put four in each, as you told me, and if my lord Tibbetti
misses them, what shall I say?"

"You shall say," said Bosambo, "that this is Sandi's own word--that when
men plan evils they must first sleep. And I think these men will sleep
for a long time. Perhaps they will sleep for ever--all things are with
Go