About noon, however, they came to a long unpainted frame building with corrugated iron roof, set in the midst of a grove of small trees. At the rear were stables and a great corral of wire netting, in which grazed a herd of ostriches. As they rode up to the door one or two natives came out, and a khaki-clad Englishman with shoulder-straps rushed out to receive them. "Hello!" laughed Schoverling as he shook hands. "This is the commissioner--Captain Yonge?" "Yes--and this is the famous Schoverling, I'll wager," smiled the clean-shaven officer. "But where's von Hofe? I got word from down country to watch out for him." Matters were soon explained, and they joined Yonge at lunch. An hour later a dozen trim King's African Rifles cantered up--Zulus all, under command of Yonge, who maintained order through two hundred miles of savagery. "Say, the old M. P. ain't in it with this!" said Jack that evening, as he and Charlie wandered out to inspect the ostrich farm. "Hear that yarn he told about nabbing those ju-ju murderers last year, single-handed. No wonder he got a D. S. O. for it!" "And they do it all with native troops, too," added Charlie thoughtfully. "You've got to hand it to the British for governing by force of character, right enough. Wonder what the country gets like on the other side of this plateau. Let's find out." But they found out little. Captain Yonge said that beyond the Guaso Nyero, in the north, the region was practically unexplored. After the great river was left behind there were deserts, strange tribes, great morasses, and the "going" was exceedingly "tough." "Did you ever hear of a Lake Quilqua?" asked Charlie. "Often," and the commissioner chuckled. "But, as you Americans say, there's 'nothing in it.' These natives will make up all kinds of yarns, simply to amuse us." Yonge himself had tried to penetrate the country to the northeast, but had found it impracticable, as he could not get away for very long. Other explorers had sheered off to the easier country to south and northwest, but he agreed that if they wanted a big bull, a rogue, they would stand a better chance of getting one in there than anywhere else. "When you stop with the wagons," he said, "I'll give you some water-casks. They may come in handy, as I know from experience." All remained the next day, highly interested in the court of justice being held over a dispute between two villages. The little plain on which lay the commissioner's station was not cultivated, but it lay in the central part of his district, and was eminently suited for ostrich farming, which was his hobby.