"Dear me! I understand that Paris has fallen: you have therefore France and Britain against you; but Belgium--did she break her neutrality?
"I don't know anything about that; but I do know that Belgium and half France are now in our hands; your Navy is defeated; and London will soon be at our mercy."
"You make me tremble! And what about Abercorn?"
The sergeant blinked.
"London is rather far away," Tom went on. "I am much more deeply interested at present in places nearer at hand. You were going to attack Abercorn, I understood. No doubt you took it as easily as your troops took Paris."
The German's frown relieved Tom of his anxiety. Smiling, he continued:
"Come now, Sergeant, you may as well tell the truth, you know. You have nothing to lose by it. You found Abercorn a harder nut than you expected, eh?"
"You seem to know a lot," said the German gloomily. "Did you come across from Rhodesia?"
"No: I came from Kigoma on the Hedwig von Wissmann."
"Ach!"