"On my life," said Abiboo, and was going off.
"Where is Tibbetti?" asked Hamilton.
The sergeant turned back and seemed embarrassed.
"Lord," he said, "Tibbetti has gone with the lady, your sister, to make a palaver with Jimbujini, the witch-doctor of the Akasava. They sit in the forest in a magic circle, and lo! Tibbetti grows very wise."
Hamilton swore under his breath. He had ordered Lieutenant Tibbetts, his second-in-command, prop, stay, and aide-de-camp, to superintend the drill of some raw Kano recruits who had been sent from the coast.
"Go tell the lord Tibbetti to come to me," he said, "but first send your woman to Sandi."
Lieutenant Tibbetts, with his plain, boyish face all red with his exertions, yet dignified withal, came hurriedly from his studies.
"Come aboard, sir," he said, and saluted extravagantly, blinking at his superior with a curious solemnity of mien which was his own peculiar expression.
"Bones," said Hamilton, "where the dickens have you been?"
Bones drew a long breath. He hesitated, then—