memories, and a thoughtful man may wonder how long the peace will last.
I have often asked myself that question, and till lately I used to
reply, "For ever because they cannot find a leader with the proper
authority, and they have no common cause to fight for." But a year or
two ago I began to change my mind.

'It is my business to act as chief Intelligence officer among the
natives. Well, one day, I came on the tracks of a curious person. He
was a Christian minister called Laputa, and he was going among the
tribes from Durban to the Zambesi as a roving evangelist. I found that
he made an enormous impression, and yet the people I spoke to were
chary of saying much about him. Presently I found that he preached
more than the gospel. His word was "Africa for 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 "Ethiopianism," and American negroes are the chief apostles. For
myself, I always thought the thing perfectly harmless. I don't care a
fig whether the native missions break away from the parent churches in
England and call themselves by fancy names. The more freedom they have
in their religious life, the less they are likely to think about
politics. But I soon found out that Laputa was none of your flabby
educated negroes from America, and I began to watch him.

'I first came across him at a revival meeting in London, where he was a
great success. He came and spoke to me about my 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 pleasure of trying to shoot him from a boat.'
Captain Arcoll took his pipe from his mouth and laughed at the
recollection.

'I had got on to an I.D.B. gang, and to my amazement found the
evangelist among them. But the Reverend John was too much for me. He
went overboard in spite of the crocodiles, and managed to swim below
water to the reed bed at the side. However, that was a valuable
experience for me, for it gave me a clue.

'I next saw him at a Missionary Conference in Cape Town, and after that
at a meeting of the Geographical S