rocious crew. We were
indeed in a bad way. It was manifest that no white man could surrender
his son into the power of these savages, even apart from their curiously
significant promise that he should die "twice." But--the way out?

"This is what shall be done," went on Matterson. "The boy shall be sent
into the town to be tried by the magistrate. The laws of the Government
are there, and are for all. Kuliso cannot make his own laws, unless the
Amandhlambe are prepared to make war upon the Government. When a white
man kills another he is tried and punished for it. When a Kafir kills
another the same happens. Both are punished by the same laws, the laws
of the Government."

I thought I observed a tendency among them to cool down at these words,
but that ruffian Sibuko walked up and down, haranguing them and
flourishing his kerrie, and in the result a number of them went round to
the back of the house. Well, this did not distress us much. We thought
that Beryl would know what to do in such an emergency.

"The boy!" they howled again. "Give him up to us, or we will kill you
all and roast you in the flames of your burning house. Now, _Umlungu_,
bring out the boy."

Septimus Matterson put up his hand. The clamour stilled.

"Listen," he said, and his voice rang out loud and clear. "You shall
not have the boy. We hold twelve lives here," drawing his revolver and
pointing it, an example I promptly followed. "Before you kill us twelve
men shall die. You know me."

The silence that followed upon the tumult was well-nigh alarming. The
clamourous savages had imagined that they had two unarmed men to deal
with, and now the sight of two business-like six-shooters pointed
straight at them seemed to throw a different light on affairs. They
were hundreds, it was true. But that twelve men, or near it, would
certainly fall before they could reach us they fully realised, the point
of which was that none of them wanted to constitute one of the twelve.
I stole a sidelong look at Septimus Matterson, and thought to discover
something of what had daunted them, for his face wore the aspect of the
strong, quiet man thoroughly roused, and, more dangerous still, deadly
cool through it all. At the same time came Beryl's voice from the other
side of the house, sharp and clear upon the silence, saying in their
tongue--

"These two guns are heavily loaded with buckshot. I will pour all four
barrels into the mass of you if