Part 36 (1/2)

”If any man says that, it is a lie,” said the chief, ”for no Governani stepped forward

”Chief,” he said, ”I have seen it”

”You are a great liar,” fue, ”and Sandi, who is ani, and smiled crookedly

CHAPTER XIII

THE SEER

There are s that happen in the very heart of Africa that no man can explain; that is why those who know Africa best hesitate to write stories about it

Because a story about Africa must be a mystery story, and your reader of fiction requires that his mystery shall be, in the end, X-rayed so that the bones of it are visible

You can no s which are the itude (say) 46 W, than you can explain the oes to show

In the dead of a night Mr Commissioner Sanders woke

His little stea he had prepared for hi them to rot

He was one day's steae, but he was only six hours' march from the Amatombo folk, who live in the very heart of the forest, and employ arrows poisoned by tetanus

Sanders sat up in bed and listened

A night bird chirped ” of water under the steaentle breeze swayed the young boughs of the trees that overhung the boat Very intently he listened, then reached down for his mosquito boots and his socks

He drew the behind the door of his tiny cabin, and opened the door softly Then he waited, standing, his head bent

In the darkness he grinned unpleasantly, and, thu back the leather strap that secured the flap of the holster which hung by his bunk he slipped out the Colt-automatic, and noiselessly pulled back the steel envelope

He was a careful man, not easily flurried, and his every h to push up the little safety-catch which prevents preh to polish the black barrel on the soft sleeve of his coat, and he waited a long tiht

By and by he heard again the sound which had aroused him It was the faint twitter of a weaver bird

Noeaver birds go to sleep at nights like sensible people, and they live near villages, liking the society of hus Certainly they do not advertise their presence so brazenly as did this bird, ittered and twittered at intervals

Sanders watched patiently

Then suddenly, from close at hand, fro call

Sanders had his little cabin on the bridge of the steamer; he walked farther away froe he crouched down, his thumb on the safety-catch