good fellow. When I get out of this business I won't forget you.'
'There is another message, Baas,' he said. 'It is written on

paper in a strange tongue. Turn your head to the bush, and
see, I will hold it inside the bowl, that you may read it.'

I did as I was told, and found myself looking at a dirty half-
sheet of notepaper, marked by the Kaffir's thumbs. Some

words were written on it in Wardlaw's hand; and,
characteristically, in Latin, which was not a bad cipher. I read -

'Henricus de Letaba transeunda apud Duprei vada jam nos
certiores fecit.'*

*'Henriques has already told us about the crossing at Dupree's Drift.'
I had guessed rightly. Henriques was a traitor to the cause

he had espoused. Arcoll's message had given me new heart,
but Wardlaw's gave me information of tremendous value. I

repented that I had ever underrated the schoolmaster's sense.
He did not come out of Aberdeen for nothing.

I asked the Kaffir how far it was to Dupree's Drift, and was
told three hours' march. We should get there after the darkening.

It seemed he had permission to ride with me instead of
'Mwanga, who had no love for the job. How he managed this

I do not know; but Arcoll's men had their own ways of doing
things. He undertook to set me free when the first shot was fired

at the ford. Meantime I bade him leave me, to avert suspicion.
There is a story of one of King Arthur's knights - Sir

Percival, I think - that once, riding through a forest, he
found a lion fighting with a serpent. He drew his sword and

helped the lion, for he thought it was the more natural beast of
the two. To me Laputa was the lion, and Henriques the

serpent; and though I had no good will to either, I was
determined to spoil the serpent's game. He was after the

rubies, as I had fancied; he had never been after anything else.
He had found out about Arcoll's preparations, and had sent

him a warning, hoping, no doubt, that, if Laputa's force was
scattered on the Letaba, he would have a chance of getting off

with the necklace in the confusion. If he succeeded, he would
go over the Lebombo to Mozambique, and whatever happened

afterwards in the rising would be no concern of Mr Henriques.
I determined that he should fail; but how to manage it I could

not see. Had I had a pistol, I think I would have shot him; but
I had no weapon of any kind. I could not warn Laputa, for

that would seal my own fate, even if I were believed. It was
clear that Laputa must go to Dupree's Drift, for otherwise I

could not escape; and it was equally clear that I must find the
means of spoiling the Portugoose's game.

A shadow fell across the sunlight, and I looked up to see the
man I was thinking of standing before me. He had a cigarette

in his mouth, and his hands in the pockets of his riding-
breeches. He stood eyeing me with a curious smile on his face.

'Well, Mr Storekeeper,' he said, 'you and I have met before
under pleasanter circumstances.'

I said nothing, my mind being busy with what to do at the drift.
'We were shipmates, if I am not mistaken,' he said. 'I dare

say you found it nicer work smoking on the after-deck than
lying here in the sun.'

Still I said nothing. If the man had come to mock me, he
would get no change out of David Crawfurd.

'Tut, tut, don't be sulky. You have no quarrel with me.
Between ourselves,' and he dropped his voice, 'I tried to save

you; but you had seen rather too much to be safe. What devil
prompted you to steal a horse and go to the cave? I don't blame

you for overhearing us; but if you had had the sense of a louse
you would have gone off to the Berg with your news. By the

way, how did you manage it? A cellar, I suppose. Our friend
Laputa was a fool not to take better precautions; but I must

say you acted the drunkard pretty well.'
The vanity of 19 is an incalculable thing. I rose to the fly.

'I know the kind of precaution you wanted to take,'
I muttered.

'You heard that too? Well, I confess I am in favour of doing
a job thoroughly when I take it up.'

'In the Koodoo Flats, for example,' I said.
He sat down beside me, and laughed softly. 'You heard my

little story? You are clever, Mr Storekeeper, but not quite
clever enough. What if I can act a part as well as yourself?'

And he thrust his yellow face close to mine.
I saw his meaning, and did not for a second believe him;

but I had the sense to temporize.
'Do you mean to say that you did not kill the Dutchmen,

and did not mean to knife me?'
'I mean to say that I am not a fool,' he said, lighting

another cigarette.
'I am a white man, Mr Storekeeper, and I play the white

man's game. Why do you think I am here? Simply because I
was the only man in Africa who had the pluck to get to the

heart of this business. I am here to dish Laputa, and by God I
am going to do it.'

I was scarcely prepared for such incredible bluff. I knew
every word was a lie, but I wanted to hear more, for the man

fascinated me.
'I suppose you know what will happen to you,' he said,

flicking the ashes from his cigarette. 'To-morrow at Inanda's
Kraal, when the vow is over, they will give you a taste of Kaffir

habits. Not death, my friend - that would be simple enough -
but a slow death with every refinement of horror. You have

broken into their sacred places, and you will be sacrificed to
Laputa's god. I have seen native torture before, and his own

mother would run away shrieking from a man who had
endured it.'

I said nothing, but the thought made my flesh creep.
'Well,' he went on, 'you're in an awkwardplight, but I think

I can help you. What if I can save your life, Mr Storekeeper?
You are trussed up like a fowl, and can do nothing. I am the

only man alive who can help you. I am willing to do it, too -
on my own terms.'

I did not wait to hear those terms, for I had a shrewd guess
what they would be. My hatred of Henriques rose and choked

me. I saw murder and trickery in his mean eyes and cruel
mouth. I could not, to be saved from the uttermosthorror,

have made myself his ally.
'Now listen, Mr Portugoose,' I cried. 'You tell me you are a

spy. What if I shout that through the camp? There will be
short shrift for you if Laputa hears it.'

He laughed loudly. 'You are a bigger fool than I took you
for. Who would believe you, my friend. Not Laputa. Not any

man in this army. It would only mean tighter bonds for these
long legs of yours.'

By this time I had given up all thought of diplomacy. 'Very
well, you yellow-faced devil, you will hear my answer. I would

not take my freedom from you, though I were to be boiled
alive. I know you for a traitor to the white man's cause, a dirty

I.D.B. swindler, whose name is a byword among honest men.
By your own confession you are a traitor to this idiot rising.

You murdered the Dutchmen and God knows how many more, and you
would fain have murdered me. I pray to Heaven that the men whose

cause you have betrayed and the men whose cause you would betray