“Mr Lamont gave it me—when he came to see us to say good-bye.”
“Lamont gave it you! Good Lord! But—why?”
“He knew there was going to be a rising, and said it might come in useful.”
“He knew— Well, I think he might have given some of us the benefit of his knowledge.”
“He did. He gave it to some, who hardly believed him, and to me—who did. I passed on the benefit of it to you, but you wouldn’t profit by it until too late. So here we are.”
“Do you mean to tell me, Clare, that the real reason you wanted me to take you into Buluwayo was because Lamont told you there was going to be a rising?”
Clare nodded.
“That’s right, Dick. If I had told you the real reason you’d only have pronounced it one of ‘Lamont’s scares’—just as the others did—and refused to move. As it is you’ve put off the said move too long.”
“Good Lord! You take my breath away!”
“I’ll take it away still more directly,” she said tranquilly. “What do you think of Mr Lamont having saved the whole of Gandela from being massacred on the day of the race meeting?”