Part 6 (2/2)

'The lever is there, ready for you,' I said

'Then for God's sake show it me,' he cried

I looked at the door to see that it was shut, as if what I had to say was very secret

'You needThey are black, but they are the stuff of warriors All round your borders you have the reoni, the Masai, the Manyumwezi, and above all the Somalis of the north, and the dwellers on the upper Nile The British recruit their black regih You , as the Zulu under Tchaka flowed over South Africa'

'It cannot be done,' said the Under-Secretary

'It can be done,' I said quietly 'We two are here to do it'

This kind of talk was jolly difficult for me, chiefly because of Stus, to get the credit of knowing no Gere well, it is not very easy when you are interrupted not to show that you know it, either by a direct answer, or by referring to the interruption in what you say next I had to be always on uard, and yet it was up to me to be very persuasive and convince these fellows that I would be useful Soet into their confidence

'I have been for years up and down in Africa-Uganda and the Congo and the Upper Nile I know the ways of the Kaffir as no Englishman does We Afrikanders see into the black h he lish; you are too big folk to understand plain lish The black man obeys and puts away his Gods, but he worshi+ps theet his Gods on our side, and then he will move mountains We must do as John Laputa did with Sheba's necklace'

'That's all in the air,' said Stuh

'It is sober coht end First find the race that fears its priests It is waiting for you-the Mussulmans of Somaliland and the Abyssinian border and the Blue and White Nile They would be like dried grasses to catch fire if you used the flint and steel of their religion Look what the English suffered froet the flaans of the west and south This is the way of Africa How many thousands, think you, were in the Mahdi's ars of the E He turned his face to the official and spoke with his hand over his ht his words They were: 'This is the man for Hilda' The other pursed his lips and looked a little scared

Stu a bell and the lieutenant came in and clicked his heels He nodded towards Peter 'Take this man aith you We have done with him The other felloill follow presently'

Peter went out with a puzzled face and Stumm turned to me

'You are a dreamer, Brandt,' he said 'But I do not reject you on that account Dreams sometimes co to kindle the flame?'

'You,' I said

'What the devil do you mean?' he asked

'That is your part You are the cleverest people in the world You have already half the Mussulman lands in your power It is for you to show us how to kindle a holy war, for clearly you have the secret of it Never fear but ill carry out your order'

'We have no secret,' he said shortly, and glanced at the official, who stared out of the

I dropped my jaw and looked the picture of disappointame with me I have not come six thousand miles to be made a fool of'

'Discipline, by God,' Stued commandos' In two strides he was above reat hands clutched edape Then very slowly he shook me so that o and I dropped lio! Futsack! And remember that I am your master I, Ulric von Sturel Germany may have some use for you, my friend, when you fear me as you never feared your God'

As I walked dizzily away the bigin his horrible way, and that little official was blinking and s too I had struck a dashed queer country, so queer that I had had no time to remember that for the first ti back When I realized it I nearly choked with anger But I thanked heaven I had shown no teht me into useful company