in action expressive, and in repose thoughtful. He was of a
silent disposition; a firm glance, an ironic smile, a courteous deliberation of
manner seemed to hint at great reserves of intelligence and power. Such beings
open to the Western eye, so often concerned with mere surfaces, the hidden
possibilities of races and lands over which hangs the mystery of unrecorded
ages. He not only trusted Jim, he understood him, I firmly believe. I speak of
him because he had captivated me. His - if I may say so - his caustic placidity,
and, at the same time, his intelligent sympathy with Jim's aspirations, appealed
to me. I seemed to behold the very origin of friendship. If Jim took the lead,
the other had captivated his leader. In fact, Jim the leader was a captive in
every sense. The land, the people, the friendship, the love, were like the
jealous guardians of his body. Every day added a link to the fetters of that
strange freedom. I felt convinced of it, as from day to day I learned more of
the story.
    The story! Haven't I heard the story? I've heard it on the march, in camp
(he made me scour the country after invisible game); I've listened to a good
part of it on one of the twin summits, after climbing the last hundred feet or
so on my hands and knees. Our escort (we had volunteer followers from village to
village) had camped meantime on a bit of level ground half-way up the slope, and
in the still, breathless evening the smell of wood-smoke reached our nostrils
from below with the penetrating delicacy of some choice scent. Voices also
ascended, wonderful in their distinct and immaterial clearness. Jim sat on the
trunk of a felled tree, and pulling out his pipe began to smoke. A new growth of
grass and bushes was springing up; there were traces of an earthwork under a
mass of thorny twigs. It all started from here, he said, after a long and
meditative silence. On the other hill, two hundred yards across a sombre
precipice, I saw a line of high blackened stakes, showing here and there
ruinously - the remnants of Sherif Ali's impregnable camp.
    But it had been taken, though. That had been his idea. He had mounted
Doramin's old ordnance on the top of that hill; two rusty iron 7-pounders, a lot
of small brass cannon - currency cannon. But if the brass guns represent wealth,
they can