Wafa, who was neither Arab nor N'gombi, but combined the
vices of both.

"O man," said Bones, glaring at the offender through his eyeglass, "what
evil ju-ju sent you to stop my fine ship?" He spoke in the Isisi
dialect, and was surprised to be answered in coast Arabic.

"Lord," said the man, unmoved by the wrath of his overlord, "I come to
make a great palaver concerning spirits and devils. Lord, I have found a
great magic."

Bones grinned, for he had that sense of humour which rises superior to
all other emotions. "Then you shall try your magic, my man, and lift
this ship to deep water."

Wafa was not at all embarrassed. "Lord, this is a greater magic, for it
concerns men, and brings to life the dead. For, lord, in this forest is
a wonderful tree. Behold!"

He took from his loose-rolled waistband a piece of wood. Bones took it
in his hand. It was the size of a corn cob, and had been newly cut, so
that the wood was moist with sap. Bones smelt it. There was a faint
odour of resin and camphor. Patricia Hamilton smiled. It was so like
Bones to be led astray by side issues.

"Where is the wonder, man, that you should drive my ship upon a
sandbank! And who are these?" Bones pointed to six canoes, filled with
men, approaching the _Zaire_. The man did not answer, but, taking the
wood from Bones's hand, pulled a knife from his belt and whittled a
shaving.

"Here, lord," he said, "is my fine magic. With this wood I can do many
miracles, such as making sick men strong and the strong weak."

Bones heard the canoes bump against the side of the boat, but his mind
was occupied with curiosity.

"Thus do I make my magic, Tibbetti," droned Wafa.

He held the knife by the haft in the right hand, and the chip of wood in
his left. The point of the knife was towards the white man's heart.

"Bones!" screamed the girl.

Bones jumped aside and struck out as the man lunged. His nobbly fist
caught Wafa under the jaw, and the man stumbled and fell. At the same
instant there was a yell from the lower deck, the sound of scuffling,
and a shot.

Bones jumped for the girl, thrust her into the cabin, sliding the steel
door behind him. His two revolvers hung at the head of his bunk, and he
slipped them out, gave a glance to see whether they were loaded, and
pushed the door.

"Shut the door after me," he breathed.

The bridge deck was deserted, and Bones raced down the ladder to the
iron deck. Two Houssas and half a dozen natives lay