At last, considerably chastened, they shouted to the Haussa to open to them, and that they would leave their spears and shields on the ground outside the stockade.
"Does Sibenga dare to suggest that I am a thief and have stolen his horses?" demanded Colonel Narfield sternly.
"Are there no thieves amongst the white men?" asked the leader of the deputation, answering one question by another. "Only one moon ago a white man who has a tree for a leg stole three oxen from Elyaui Kraal."
"Then perhaps he stole Sibenga's horses," suggested Colonel Narfield. "And the men who came here with the animals; have they returned?"
"Great One, they have not," was the reply. Herbert Narfield looked grave at the information. He could only conclude that the men had bolted, taking with them the presents he had sent to Sibenga.
"The chief Sibenga ordered us to make sure," declared the spokesman pointedly, after the Colonel had expressed his surprise in words.
"So that was why you came armed? If your master does not want to lose six more men he had better not send them here with assegais and shields, for they will be instantly struck down with the white man's magic. Nevertheless, not because Sibenga says you must, but because I am willing to allow it, a search may be made here for the missing horses."
The deputation, shepherded by Tinned Salmon, Colonel Narfield's personal servant, made a tour of the outbuildings, but to their obvious disappointment, no animals that resembled the horses from Sibenga's Kraal were to be found.
Colonel Narfield, Colin, and Tiny met the natives outside his laboratory, which the latter also showed a desire to explore.
"Now, Mouth of Sibenga," said the Colonel, addressing the head of the deputation. "You see I have spoken the word. Before you depart you, too, might like a gift."