ani, a wiry, cautious old man, who had
had much experience in Africa; "but supposing we are beaten in our
attack upon the palisades of Kwikuru, we shall not be any better off
than we were before, but worse; our men will get disheartened, and
starvation will stare us in the face. I propose that five hundred men,
divided into two parties, make for the gates as quickly as possible, and
break open everything with all the speed we can. It is only in this way
that we can succeed."

"The oldest among ye have spoken," said the leader Khamis, "and ye have
spoken well. But I have been in Urori before, and know the customs of
the Warori. If we succeed in taking this village of Kwikuru, we cannot
hope to be permitted to march through this country any more; but as soon
as we take it we must strike along the road to Unyanyembe. It is
useless for me to tell ye that I advised ye at first not to take the
Urori road. I shall not quarrel with ye about that now, but will try to
do my best for our general safety. If we succeed in destroying Olimali
and his people, we must begin our march north to Unyanyembe to-night,
for in two days the fugitives will carry the news from one end of the
country to another."

"Excellently spoken, brave Khamis," said Amer bin Osman. "Thou hast a
wise head, and art a worthy leader. Do thou, with thy men and other
chiefs, attack one gate, and I, with my men and other chiefs, will
attack the other gate, and whosoever takes a gate first, let him blow on
his horn once. I advise now that whatsoever we may have we shall eat,
and that after we break our fast we sally out."

"Praised be Allah for his goodness! Let us eat; then fight!" all
shouted.

In half an hour breakfast had been despatched, and every chief sallied
out with his men under his respective flag, except Sultan bin Ali, who
was left with one hundred men to prepare the camp for defence in case of
failure.

Simba and Moto had also had their little council together; and as they
marched by the side of Amer bin Osman, various signs might have been
seen by the observer to pass between them, accompanied by many ominous
shakings of the head.

A deep silence prevailed near the village; not a soul was seen, not a
dog was heard to bark; but the sun shone as usual with its summer heat,
and the sky was perfectly cloudless and beautiful in its azure purity.

But little did the approaching Arabs and their followers heed the beauty
of the sky, the bri