“Of course,” said Will, rather slowly and distinctly, “if he told us about Schillingschen, we’d have to let him off.  Let’s hope he holds his tongue, for I never wanted to flog a man so much in all my life!”

The most palpable absurdity at the moment was that there was nothing in the hut to beat him with.  There were dozens of strips of the recently shot hippo hide hanging in the sun outside to dry, with stones tied to the end of each, to keep them taut and straight, but nobody made a move to bring one in.

“Take off his loin-cloth!” ordered Fred.  “It won’t hurt him enough with that thing on!”

The Baganda spat the cow-dung from his mouth and struggled violently.

“Oh, no, no!” he shouted.  “I will tell!  I will tell everything!”

“Too late now!” said Will jubilantly.

“No, gentlemen, no!  Not too late!  I tell all—­I tell quickly!  Only listen!  Bwana Schillingschen will shoot me if he knows!  He is very bad man—­very kali—­very fierce—­and oh, too clever!  You must protect me!”

He could hardly get the words out, for the knees of our porters pinned him down, and his chin was pressed hard on the floor.

“I ordered that loin-cloth removed!” was all Fred commented.  One of the porters attended to the task, and the Baganda hurried with his tale, drawing in breath in noisy gasps like a man with asthma because of the weight of his captors on him and the strained position of his neck.

“Bwana Schillingschen is sending me and many other men—­not all Baganda, but of many tribes—­to go through all parts and say Islam is the only good religion—­all Germans are high-priests of Islam—­soon the Germans are coming with great armies to destroy the British and all other foolish people who have not accepted Islam as their creed!  All are to get ready to receive the Germans.”

“Where is Schillingschen now?” demanded Fred.

“Beyond Mumias.”

“How far beyond Mumias?”

“Who knows?  He is marching.”

“In which direction?  What for?”

“To Mount Elgon.  I do not know what for.”

“How do you know he is going to Mount Elgon?”

“He told me to go there and find him after my work is done.”

“How long were you to continue at what you call your work?”

“A month or five weeks.”

“So he expects to stay a long time up there?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I do not know.”

“Has he many loads with him?”

“Very many provisions for a long time.”

“Guns?”

“Several.  I do not know how many.  He gives guns to some of his men when he gets to where the government will not know about it.”

“How many men has he?”

“Not many.  Ten, I think.”

“How can they carry all those loads?”

“He brought a hundred porters from Kisumu to Mumias, and there bought more than forty donkeys, sending the porters back again.”