ttom of the ship, passed out
through the diving-chamber, and sauntered over to inspect at close
quarters the three shot elephants, though they declined to take a nearer
view of the carcases of the combatants. Mildmay proceeded to look out
the axes that would be required for the purpose of cutting out the
ivory.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

AN EXCITING NIGHT AMONG THE REEDS.

The task of cutting out the ivory and the ponderous horn of the
rhinoceros occupied the five men for the remainder of the day, at the
end of which the voyagers dined luxuriously upon the novel and dainty
dish of baked elephant's foot. When the spoils had at length been
safely stowed away, the _Flying Fish_ was removed to a respectful
distance from the huge carcases--over which there would assuredly be
much snarling and fighting during the impending hours of darkness--and
berthed in the midst of a dense clump of bush about half a mile to
leeward of the small shallow lake already mentioned. It was the
intention of the professor and Mildmay to lay up for an hour or two
during the coming night among the rushes on its margin, in the hope of
securing a shot at a unicorn, or, failing that, anything else worth
shooting that might happen to present itself. They spent the quarter of
an hour that preceded nightfall in carefully reconnoitring the position,
and then retired to their cabins to make the necessary changes into
shooting rig before dinner, it being an understood thing that there was
no obligation upon any one to don evening dress if there were good and
sufficient reasons against it, as in the present case, although the
ladies made a point of doing so.

The meal over and the after-dinner cigar duly smoked, Sir Reginald and
his companion elephant-hunters having declared that they were too tired
to enjoy any further sport that day, the professor and Mildmay bade the
rest of the party good-night, and, taking their rifles, set out for the
margin of the lake. As a matter of fact, they ought to have started
nearly three hours earlier than they did, and taken up their position
before nightfall, for many animals drink almost immediately after
sunset, and before the light has entirely gone out of the sky; but they
hoped to be still in time to get a shot, and hurried on, encouraged by
the sounds that floated down to them from the lake telling of animals
still there, drinking and bathing. The bathers were most probably
elephants, but the pair decided not to