"News?" said Jekyll, in reply to a question from Moseley. "Thought maybe you'd have brought some. There's talk of a rising among the niggers down beyond Sikumbutana. Heard anything of it?" "Not a word." "Gah on. There won't be no bloomin' rahsin'," cut in a prospector, a Cockney ex-ship-steward. "Nothink but a lot o' gas. The wy to treat niggers is my wy." "And what might that be?" said another prospector, a tall, bronzed, fine-looking man, who _had_ taken _his_ degree at Oxford. "Why, one o' my boys cheeked me yesterday, so I ups with a bloomin' pick-'andle and jes lets 'im 'ave it over the bloomin' boko. That's my wy with 'em." And the speaker cocked his head and looked around with the defiant bounce of a cad with a couple of drinks too many on board. "H'm!" rejoined the other man, drily. "By-the-by," said Tarrant, "I wonder what Mafuta did with my rifle and cartridges." Jekyll pricked up his ears. "Is that one of your boys?" he said. "Yes. He was carrying my gun and cartridges." "Well, there was no gun and cartridges with your donkeys when they turned up." "The devil there wasn't!" said Tarrant. "Let's go and look into it." They went outside, Jekyll and two or three others accompanying them. The three boys in charge of the donkeys were there. They had off-loaded the packs and taken them inside. Where was Mafuta? They did not know. They had last seen him about half way; after that no more. They thought perhaps he had been ordered to try and shoot some game on the way. Tarrant looked blue. "Oh, he'll turn up," he said, in a tone which conveyed the idea that such a contingency was remote. "Pity you trusted him with a gun in these times," said Jekyll. "I'm afraid he'll clear with it." "Wot'll yer tike for the chawnce?" said the Cockney, who was one of those who had accompanied them outside. "Oh, he'll roll up directly," said Tarrant, ignoring this specimen; "Mafuta's a reliable boy. I've had him a long while." Returning from the huts, they became aware of a certain amount of excitement in front of the store. A trooper of the Matabeleland Mounted Police had just ridden up. The rising was a fact, and he had been sent round to warn everybody to come in to Bulawayo if possible; if not, to collect together and form laagers. Several prospectors and miners had been murdered in the Sikumbutana district, but how far the outbreak had spread could not as yet be determined. He was on his way to warn Hollingworth; after that, if he could manage it, he must get through to John Ames'. The excitement produced by this news was mingled with consternation. Half of those there collected were unarmed. Those who had weapons had left them behind at their camps; while some, with the habitual British carelessness which passes for intrepidity, had not even got any there.