was made up. He had found
his vocation.

He did not disclose his plans to any of his friends till they were
mature, and meanwhile set about seeing the people who could give him
information. At last he sailed for Zanzibar, and started on a journey
which was to try his powers. In a month he fell ill, and it was thought
at the mission to which his bearers brought him that he could not live.
For ten weeks he was at death's door, but he would not give in to the
enemy. He insisted in the end on being taken back to the coast, and
here, as if by a personal effort of will, he recovered. The season had
passed for his expedition, and he was obliged to return to England. Most
men would have been utterly discouraged, but Alec was only strengthened
in his determination. He personified in a way that deadly climate and
would not allow himself to be beaten by it. His short experience had
shown him what he needed, and as soon as he was back in England he
proceeded to acquire a smattering of medical knowledge, and some
acquaintance with the sciences which were wanted by a traveller. He had
immense powers of concentration, and in a year of tremendous labour
acquired a working knowledge of botany and geology, and the elements of
surveying; he learnt how to treat the maladies which were likely to
attack people in tropical districts, and enough surgery to set a broken
limb or to conduct a simple operation. He felt himself ready now for a
considerable undertaking; but this time he meant to start from
Mombassa.

So far Lucy was able to go, partly from her own imaginings, and partly
from what Dick had told her. He had given her the proceedings of the
Royal Geographical Society, and here she found Alec MacKenzie's account
of his wanderings during the five years that followed. The countries
which he explored then, became afterwards British East Africa.

But the bell rang for dinner, and so interrupted her meditations.

III

They played bridge immediately afterwards. Mrs. Crowley looked upon
conversation as a fine art, which could not be pursued while the body
was engaged in the process of digestion; and she was of opinion that a
game of cards agreeably diverted the mind and prepared the intellect for
the quips and cranks which might follow when the claims of the body were
satisfied. Lucy drew Alec MacKenzie as her partner, and so was able to
watch his play when her cards were on the table. He did not play lightly
as did Dick, who kep