itain took possession of the broad lands which Alec,
by his skill, tact, perseverance and strength, had wrested from
barbarism. His work was finished, and he could return to England.

Public attention had been called at last to the greatness of his
achievement, to the dangers he had run and the difficulties he had
encountered; and before he sailed, he learned that the papers were
ringing with his praise. A batch of cablegrams reached him, including
one from Dick Lomas and one from Robert Boulger, congratulating him on
his success. Two foreign potentates, through their consuls at Mombassa,
bestowed decorations upon him; scientific bodies of all countries
conferred on him the distinctions which were in their power to give;
chambers of commerce passed resolutions expressing their appreciation of
his services; publishers telegraphed offers for the book which they
surmised he would write; newspaper correspondents came to him for a
preliminary account of his travels. Alec smiled grimly when he read that
an Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs had referred to him in a debate
with honeyed words. No such enthusiasm had been aroused in England since
Stanley returned from the journey which he afterwards described in
_Darkest Africa_. When he left Mombassa the residents gave a dinner in
his honour, and everyone who had the chance jumped up on his legs and
made a speech. In short, after many years during which Alec's endeavours
had been coldly regarded, when the government had been inclined to look
upon him as a busybody, the tide turned; and he was in process of being
made a national hero.

Alec made up his mind to come home the whole way by sea, thinking that
the rest of the voyage would give his constitution a chance to get the
better of the ills which still troubled him; and at Gibraltar he
received a letter from Dick. One had reached him at Suez; but that was
mainly occupied with congratulations, and there was a tenderness due to
the fear that Alec had hardly yet recovered from his dangerous illness,
which made it, though touching to Alec, not so characteristic as the
second.

_My Dear Alec:_

_I am delighted that you will return in the nick of time for the
London season. You will put the noses of the Christian Scientists
out of joint, and the New Theologians will argue no more in the
columns of the halfpenny papers. For you are going to be the lion
of the season. Comb your mane and have it neat