Stumm flung up his arms and cursed, and the Under-Secretary laughed.
It was high time for me to chip in.

I was beginning to see the kind of fellow this Stumm was, and as he talked I thought of my mission, which had got overlaid by my Boer past.

It looked as if he might be useful.
'Let me speak,' I said.

'My friend is a great hunter, but he fights better than he talks.

He is no politician.