“I think I have read your riddle, Allan; the answer came to me quite of a sudden.  In all those sin-stained hearts there is a seed of good and an aspiration towards the right.  For every one of them also there is at last mercy and forgiveness, since how could they learn who never had a teacher?  Your dream, Allan, was one of the ultimate redemption of even the most evil of mankind, by gift of the Grace that shall one day glow through the blackness of the night in which they wander.”

That is what he said, and I only hope that he was right, since at present there is something very wrong with the world, especially in Africa.

Also we blame the blind savage for many things, but on the balance are we so much better, considering our lights and opportunities?  Oh! the truth is that the devil—­a very convenient word that—­is a good fisherman.  He has a large book full of flies of different sizes and colours, and well he knows how to suit them to each particular fish.  But white or black, every fish takes one fly or the other, and then comes the question—­is the fish that has swallowed the big gaudy lure so much worse or more foolish than that which has fallen to the delicate white moth with the same sharp barb in its tail?

In short, are we not all miserable sinners as the Prayer Book says, and in the eye of any judge who can average up the elemental differences of those waters wherein we were bred and are called upon to swim, is there so much to choose between us?  Do we not all need those outstretched Hands of Mercy which I saw in my dream?

But there, there!  What right has a poor old hunter to discuss things that are too high for him?

CHAPTER XV

THE MOTOMBO

After my dream I went to sleep again, till I was finally aroused by a strong ray of light hitting me straight in the eye.

Where the dickens does that come from? thought I to myself, for these huts had no windows.

Then I followed the ray to its source, which I perceived was a small hole in the mud wall some five feet above the floor.  I rose and examined the said hole, and noted that it appeared to have been freshly made, for the clay at the sides of it was in no way discoloured.  I reflected that if anyone wanted to eavesdrop, such an aperture would be convenient, and went outside the hut to pursue my investigations.  Its wall, I found, was situated about four feet from the eastern part of the encircling reed fence, which showed no signs of disturbance, although there, in the outer face of the wall, was the hole, and beneath it on the lime flooring lay some broken fragments of plaster.  I called Hans and asked him if he had kept watch round the hut when the wrapped-up man visited us during the night.  He answered yes, and that he could swear that no one had come near it, since several times he had walked to the back and looked.