right, and soon hit the track back to the
drinking-place. Then they found another charred brand, and another; and
now, quite happy in the assurance that they were passing back over
ground that they had already traversed, they pressed forward
light-heartedly enough until, after the lapse of nearly another
half-hour, Lethbridge again damped their ardour by saying--

"Look here, you fellows, doesn't it strike you that we are going a
little too fast? It must be nearly half an hour since we passed the
remains of that last torch; and I have not yet seen another. Have any
of you? Because, if you haven't, we are going wrong again! The best of
those things only lasted about ten minutes, you know."

This was perfectly true, and the inference drawn by the ex-colonel was
so obvious that, without pausing to discuss the matter, they at once
wheeled round and proceeded to retrace their steps. But although each
one of them felt convinced that they were really going back again over
precisely the same ground that they had already traversed, that last
relic of a torch was not again encountered; and at length, having
wandered on for another hour or more, in the hope of getting back to the
mahogany tree, from which to make a fresh start, the alarming conviction
forced itself upon them that they were _lost_--utterly lost in this
great illimitable African forest!

"I am afraid there is no doubt about it," said Lethbridge, when, a
little later, the party had come to a halt in their perplexity, and the
grim truth had found expression in words, "and, that being the case, I
think the best thing we can do is to sit down--for I imagine that we are
all beginning to feel a trifle fagged--and nibble a sandwich or two,
washing it down with a nip from our flasks, as we discuss the
situation."

"Of course," remarked Sir Reginald, when they had seated themselves and
produced their refreshments, "although this is a rather awkward
adventure, there is no need for us to feel any alarm or apprehension.
We are certain to extricate ourselves sooner or later, and I think we
may take it for granted that we are not likely to starve, so long as we
have any cartridges left. The thing that worries me is the anxiety that
our friends aboard the _Flying Fish_ will suffer when we fail to turn up
in decent time."

"Yes, certainly, that is the worst feature of the case," agreed
Lethbridge, "because, of course, they will know that something has
happened to deta