"If exception is taken to Henry, sir," said Bones firmly, "I resign my commission; if a gentleman is allowed to keep a dog, sir, he is surely allowed to keep a baby. Between Henry and me, sir, there is a bond stronger than steel. I may be an ass, sir, I may even be a goop, but come between me an' my child an' all my motherly instincts--if you'll pardon the paradox--all my paternal--that's the word--instincts are aroused, and I will fight like a tiger, sir----" "What a devil you are for jaw," said Hamilton; "anyway, I've warned you. Sanders is due in a month." "Henry will be five," murmured Bones. "Oh, blow Henry!" said Hamilton. Bones rose and pointed to the door. "May I ask you, sir," he said, "not to use that language before the child? I hate to speak to you like this, sir, but I have a responsible----" He dodged out of the open door and the loaf of bread which Hamilton had thrown struck the lintel and rolled back to Henry's eager hands. The two men walked up and down the parade ground whilst Fa'ma, the wife of Ahmet, carried the child to her quarters where he slept. "I'm afraid I've got to separate you from your child," said Hamilton; "there is some curious business going on in the Lombobo, and a stranger who walks by night, of which Ahmet the Spy writes somewhat confusingly." Bones glanced round in some apprehension. "Oblige me, old friend," he entreated, "by never speakin' of such things before Henry--I wouldn't have him scared for the world." II Bosambo of the Ochori was a light sleeper, the lighter because of certain stories which had reached him of a stranger who walks by night, and in the middle of the night he suddenly became wide awake, conscious that there was a man in his hut of whose coming the sentry without was ignorant. Bosambo's hand went out stealthily for his short spear, but before he could reach it, his wrist was caught in a grip of steel, strong fingers gripped his throat, and the intruder whispered fiercely, using certain words which left the chief helpless with wonder. "I am M'gani of the Night," said the voice with authoritative hauteur, "of me you have heard, for I am known only to chiefs; and am so high that chiefs obey and even devils go quickly from my path." "O, M'gani, I hear you," whispered Bosambo, "how may I serve you?" "Get me food," said the imperious stranger, "after, you shall make a bed for me in your inner room, and sit before this house that none may disturb me, for it is to my high purpose that no word shall go to M'ilitani that I stay in your territory." "M'gani, I am your dog," said Bosambo, and stole forth from the hut like a thief to obey. All that day he sat before his hut and even sent away the wife of his heart and the child M'sambo, that the rest of M'gani of the N'gombi should not be disturbed. That night when darkness had come and the glowing red of hut fires grew dimmer, M'gani came from the hut.