Prester John

high with expectation. Five pencilled words may seem a small thing to build hope on, but it was enough for me, and I went about my work in the store with a reasonably light heart. One o

as a good supply of cartridges, including a stock for a .400 express which could not be found. I pocketed the revolv

t of bed, brewed strong coffee, and went back to his slumbers. Presently it was dinner-time, and I went over to a silent meal with Wardlaw. When I returned I must have fallen asleep over a pipe, for the next thing I knew I was blinking drow

ried an iron pot, and a few belongings were tied up in a dirty handkerchief. He must have been a dacha[1] smoker, for he coughed hideously, twisting his body with the paroxysms. I had seen the type before-the ol

n Kaffir, then begged for tobac

m where he

'and before that from the south.

fled close to the door. He had kept his eyes on the ground, but now he lo

ered, and I have no kraal. The aasvogels follow me, and I can he

ground,' he said, and look

behind me,' he said in English, holding out his pot for m

English, asked him if he k

w? See that it is open, for I'll be there shortly.' Then lifting up his voice he called down in Sesuto all

en had come to school that day, and he was sitting idle, playing patience. 'Loc

fir slipped out. He grinned at me, and after a glance round, hopped very

ss, Mr Crawfurd. I must get comfortable before we begin our indaba.[2] We've the night before us, so there's plenty of tim

colouring. His body and legs he left untouched, save that he covered them with shirt and trousers from my wardrobe. Then he pulled off a scaly wig, and showed beneath it a head of close

James Arcoll. I am speaking to Mr Crawfurd, the storekeeper, and Mr Wardlaw, the schoolmaster, of Blaauwildebeestefontein. W

iced all else. 'You're listening for the drums, but you won't hear them. That business is over here. To-night they beat in Swaziland a

burning well, and the house locked and sh

ou were spied on, but I told him to take no notice. Your affair, Mr Crawfurd, had to wait on more urgent matters. Now, what do you think is happening?' I

and your evidence would be the sp

d. The natives have some supply of diamonds, which they sell bit by bi

any notion who has be

se. 'I can name one,' I said, 'a little yellow Portugoose, who calls him

t if he knew what was in those saddlebags. They contain my change of clothes, and other odds and ends. Henriques' own stuff is in a hole in the spruit. A handy way of getting one's l

riques as the chief agent. Well and good! But who is t

rther, but I have

s,' he said, blowing sm

a great black minister who

w on earth did you find that out? Quick, Mr Crawfurd, t

kcaple shore. Then I spoke of my sight of him on board ship, his talk with H

Laputa that night in Durban, but I was too cocksure and he slipped off. Do you know, Mr Crawfurd, you have been on the right trail long before me? When did you say you saw him a

e other thing I can tell you. There's some kind of sacred place for the Kaffirs, and I'

whole thing right, and you only want the filling up. And you found out everything

s slim, grizzled man, with his wrinkled face and bright eyes, was clearly not lavis

s native business. I can talk every dialect, and I have the customs of every tribe by heart. I've travelled over every mile of South Africa, and Central and East Africa too. I was in bot

asked suddenly, 'Did you

the King of Abyssinia in the fifteenth century. I've been reading all about him. He was a Christian, and the Portuguese sent expedition

Christian, but I expect that his practices were as pagan as his neighbours'. There is no doubt that he was a great conqu

st?' I asked wondering to w

in that direction. At the end of the sixteenth century the chief native power was round about the Zambesi. The Mazimba and the Makaranga had com

he story was getting into

find this out, and I have spent days in the best libraries in Europe over it. They all looked back to a great king in the north, whom

th them the story of Prester John, but by this time it had ceased to be a historical memory, and had become a religious cult. They worshipped a great Power who had been their ancestor, and the favourite Zulu

ment held the leadership. The great native wars of the sixteenth century, which you can read about in the Portuguese historians, were not for territory but for leadership, and mainly for the possession of this fetich. Anyhow, we know that

n souls to accomplish it. Well, he had the fetich, whatever it was, and it was believed that he owed his conquests to it. Mosilikatse tried to steal it, and that was why he had to fly to Matabeleland. But with Tchaka

d I noticed that his face was grave. He was

, and we are no nearer understanding them than our fathers were. But they are scattered and divided. We have driven great wedges of white settlement into their territory, and we have taken away their arms. Still, they are six times as many as we are, and they have long memories, and a tho

r the Africans," and his chief point was that the natives had had a great empire in the past, and might have a great empire again. He used to tell the story of Prester John, with all kinds of embroidery of his own. You see, Prester John was a good argument for him, for he had been a Christian as well as a great potentate. 'For years there has been plenty of this talk in South Africa, chiefly among Christian Kaffirs. It is what they call "Ethiopiani

y soul, but he gave up when I dropped into Zulu. The next time I met him was on the lower Limpopo, when I had the plea

John was too much for me. He went overboard in spite of the crocodiles, and managed to swim below wat

alk with him. My reputation does not follow me home, and he thought I was an English publisher with an interest in missions. You see I had no ev

he was of Zulu blood, but I could get no traces of his family. He must come of high stock, for he is a fine figure of a man. 'Very soon I found it was no good following him in his excursions into civilization. There he was merely the educated Kaffir; a great pet of missionary societi

crowd when he spoke, or the half-caste who called him "Sir" and drove his Cape-cart. I had some queer adventures, but these can wait. The gist of the thing is, that after si

was back four centuries among the Mazimba sweeping down on the Zambesi. He told them, and they believed him, that he was the Umkulunkulu, the incarnated spirit of Prester John. He t

o occupied with fitting this ne

he Cape. The great tribes were up to their necks in the conspiracy, and all manner of little sects had been taken in. I have sat at tribal councils and been sworn a blood brother,

a big scale. Your pal, Henriques, was the chief agent for this, but he had others at Mozambique and Johannesburg, ay, and in London, whom I have on my list. With the money, guns and ammunition were bought, and it seems that a pretty flourishing trade has been going on for some time. They came in mostly overland through Portuguese territory, though there have been cases

en I.D.B. on him, but I could not get my proofs till too late. I nearly had him in Durban, but he got away; and he never gave me a second chance. For five months he and Henriques have been lying low, because their scheme was getting very ripe. I have

ess, and in his eyes there was the light of a fierce purp

y Kaffir in South Africa he would be beaten. You say he is an

e first stage of a thing, and maybe the second, but no more. That is t

eme is ripe,' I

th 'Mpefu. There he will stay the night. To-morrow morning he goes to

I said. 'How big

not do if necessary, and yet I should hesitate to call him a blackguard. Ay, you may look surprised at me, you two pragmatical Scotsmen; but I have, so to speak, lived with the man for months, and there's fineness and nobility in him. He would

o-morrow,' I asked, 'ha

't be allowed to. If they get as far, they will be scattered there. As I told you, I too have laid my train. We have the police ready all along the scarp of the Berg. Every exit from native territory is watched, and the frontier farmers are out on commando. We have regulars on the Delagoa Bay and Natal lines, and a system of field telegraphs laid which can summon further troops to any point. It has all been kept secret, because we are still in the dark ourselves. The newspaper public knows

What makes Laputa come up here to start w

se in it, for he does nothing with

rester John, to give his leadership prestige. Apparently he had not yet got it, or Arcoll would have known. He started from thi

Umvelos', probably at your new store,

on was sudd

tter be present at the meeti

and laughed. 'I had though

ot meet them in the store as I can. I'm there on my ordinary business, a

e better employed myself on the Berg, and, as you say, I would have little chance of hearing anything

ing, I may as well see it out. Besides, I

of my men. I should tell you that I have loyal natives in my pay in most tribes, and can count on early intelligence.

n we went to bed and slept soundly, even Mr Wardlaw. It was strange how fear had gone

He

Coun

sser c