A deal in cotton

The story is set in an unspecified British Colony in Africa, which the author deliberately disguises, calling it 'The Centro-Euro-Africo Protectorate', in a town with a vaguely French name, but occasionally using a form of words that was in common use in Sierra Leone on the west coast. It borders French territory, and Somaliland is said to be three thousand miles away. First published in Colliers Weekly for 14 December, 1907.