The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-01-07
(Continued.)

The trader nodded
 "Come inside,' he said curtly. with quick glance at the group of Kaf- nrs.
 Leading the way through the store, he passed into a room at the back. The apartment was his living-room, a bare, neat. wholesome place; just such place as one might haxe ex- pected in a man of Jerry's frugal mind.
 ..Make. yourselves comfortable, !" ne vent on, indicating the scanty furniture. while he carefully closed the ootton-covered window.
 Miks possessed himself of the bed. Guy accepted the services of the rrail table; but Goedall, character ,ztfcaIly, arailed himself of the surer support of . bale of Kafir. blan- ken.
 Jerry adepssd the only chair in the room. and. by the manner in which hs plunged at once into busi- ness, showed that this gathering was one of considerable importance, even emergency.
 He drew from an inner pocket a icng bfus snSsiore.
 T have hero . letter from My firm. Hsrfmann ana olier of Berlin" :" he sasd. with strong German ac- cent. sYou win know Hellnann and oIIer,' he added. with quick glance of rssaning at his audience.
 "Yss we know Hellmann and Ol- her." Guy said. with short laugh.
 The others nodded
 -~Yes good" The trader beamed upon the paper as he dr0w 1t from the envelope. Then for a moment he silently scanned the spidery Ger- man writing thereon. "Oller says the runours contained in his last let ter are more than confirmed" he went on presently. ''The German Government are having much. very much. trouble with the niggers in Damarsland. They find it necessary to send troops---eight thousand, he says-to keep the country in order. They land soon. He is sorry to hear that this, our country, is so disturbed win freebooters. He says it must be bad for trade. He thought the English peace of Majuba would have fixed all comfortably. and the set tiers in Bechuanaland would live in friendliness with the Boer- He points out that these disturbances should bs settled without appeal to Great Britain. England has had a lerson. They win not send soldiers into Bechuanaland; it will upset the peace which has just been ratified with the Bosrs. Besides. she says Bechuanaland is not a British pos sesion. He feels confident. if dis turbances in Bechuanaland becomes serious, m appeal by the settlers to the forces in Damaraland would ob- -saip sympathe etic consideration, par tieulariy as there are so many Ger man traders in the country. The gov ernment of the Fafher1and is ever ready to help its children. He adds and it is an important point-that he does not think the forces in Damara- land will. or can, do anything to help us unless we appeal to tRem, or unle*s the disturbances of the freebooters threaten the borders of German ter ritory In the latter case prompt and high-handed measures will un- dodbtedly be taken. Here is the let ter; you can read it for yourselves. 1t is in German"
 "No use to me-" said Guy promptly.
 'Nor me-" said GoodalI.
 T haven't a notion of the lingo" protested Mike. /"But this fellow. oller." he added. where does he get his authority?"
 Jerry shrugged his shoulders. His face was unutterably bland.
 who can tell?" he said. And the other two smiled upon the question CT.
 .seems to know a lot," muttered the giant.
 ~Yes.''
 The old trader carefully folded the letter and returned it to its envelope. Then he struck a match and set fire to one corner of the paper, and held it until the flames had devoured all but the last corner. This he dropped on the earthen floor, and watched the last fragment of blue char to a cin- der. Finally he ground the ashes un- derfoot.
 ewell?" he inquired. What is your news?"
 GoodaI looked up from the brown study into which he had fallen.
 I've arranged for the wagons and merchandise. It only needs the ready cash. Not even notes-only gold of the realm"
 -I have sent word to my son Dram in Kimberly" replied the trader promptly "He will pay over two thousand pounds-in gold. Well?"
 Sam Goodall's eyes lit. It was well to. be working with a large-minded