when I rolled up here last night, and drunk nothing but filthy water
for days. To-night, fricassee of chicken, white bread, cabinet hock and
Napoleon brandy. And to-morrow again--well, who knows? When do you move
on, Von Ragastein?"

"Not for several days."

"What the mischief do you find to do so far from headquarters, if you
don't shoot lions or elephants?" his guest asked curiously.

"If you really wish to know," Von Ragastein replied, "I am annoying your
political agents immensely by moving from place to place, collecting
natives for drill."

"But what do you want to drill them for?" Dominey persisted. "I heard
some time ago that you have four times as many natives under arms as we
have. You don't want an army here. You're not likely to quarrel with us
or the Portuguese."

"It is our custom," Von Ragastein declared a little didactically, "in
Germany and wherever we Germans go, to be prepared not only for what is
likely to happen but for what might possibly happen."

"A war in my younger days, when I was in the Army," Dominey mused,
"might have made a man of me."

"Surely you had your chance out here?"

Dominey shook his head.