d puzzled, then a light seemed to dawn upon him.

"Is it the man who collects snakes and--other things, Izibu?"

She nodded.

"Then of him I know nothing. Nor did I know even that he had been left
behind, _impela_."

"You swear it?"

"U' Dingiswayo!" said the chief earnestly, invoking the name of the
ancestral head of his tribe. And then for the first time a ray of hope
came back into Verna's life.

Then the dying man's tone grew drowsy, and his head drooped forward. He
was muttering words of counsel, of quick command, as though to his
followers. Then he subsided to the ground. A sign or two and a groan.
Sapazani was dead.

"Poor devil!" said Inspector Bray. "He's a fine fellow when all's said
and done, and a plucky one."

"Whatever else he may be, Sapazani's a gentleman," said Ben Halse, fully
appreciative of the fact that the dead chief had observed the strictest
secrecy with regard to such former transactions as have been alluded to.

But Verna said nothing. She fed and fostered that ray of hope.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.

LEFT BEHIND.

Even though the rescue party failed in its object in so far that no
rescue was effected, still, it is more than probable that it was the
saving of Denham's life--for the present; for it had drawn off the
savages and had given the wounded man time, when he recovered
consciousness, to crawl into the most secure hiding-place he could find.
This was in the thick of a clump of bushes, whose overhanging boughs
formed a sort of natural pavilion.

In the darkness and general _melee_ his fall had been unperceived, or he
would have been cut to pieces then and there. He had lost his rifle,
but still had his revolver and cartridges. That was something. Yet,
when all was said and done, here was he alone, in the heart of a now
hostile country, every hand against him did he but show himself
anywhere, without food or means of procuring any, for even did he meet
with game he dared not fire a shot for fear of attracting the attention
of his enemies.

It was with vast relief that he discovered that his injury, though
painful, was not serious. He could only conjecture that he had received
a numbing blow just behind the left shoulder from a heavy knobkerrie
hurled with tremendous force, and such indeed was the case. At first it
seemed as though his shoulder was broken. It had swelled as though it
would burst his coat, but it was only a contusion, though a severe and
painful