belief in their mission.

"We swear," he said, "upon this book and before the God who made us that
we will leave this home that was ours, and never look upon it again till
we can call it ours once more. We swear that we will follow this, the
purpose of our lives, till death destroys us and it; and may shame and
utter ruin overtake us if, while we have strength and reason, we turn
our backs upon this oath! So help us God!"

"So help us God!" repeated Leonard.

Thus in the home of their ancestors, in the presence of their Maker, and
of the pictured dead who had gone before them, did Thomas and Leonard
Outram devote their lives to this great purpose. Perhaps, as one of them
had said, the thing was childish, but if so, at the least it was solemn
and touching. Their cause seemed hopeless indeed; but if faith can move
mountains, much more can honest endeavour attain its ends. In that hour
they felt this. Yes, they believed that the end would be attained by one
of them, though they guessed little what struggles lay between them
and the Star they hoped to gain, or how strangely they should be borne
thither.

On the morrow they went to London and waited there a while, but no word
came from Jane Beach, and for good or ill the chains of the oath that he
had taken riveted themselves around Leonard Outram's neck.

Within three months of this night the brothers were nearing the shores
of Africa, the land of the Children of the Mist.

CHAPTER III

AFTER SEVEN YEARS

"What is the time, Leonard?"

"Eleven o'clock, Tom."

"Eleven--already? I shall go at dawn, Leonard. You remember Johnston
died at dawn, and so did Askew."

"For heaven's sake don't speak like that, Tom! If you think you are
going to die, you will die."

The sick man laughed a ghost of a laugh--it was half a death-rattle.

"It is no use talking, Leonard; I feel my life flaring and sinking like
a dying fire. My mind is quite clear now, but I shall die at dawn for
all that. The fever has burnt me up! Have I been raving, Leonard?"

"A little, old fellow," answered Leonard.

"What about?"

"Home mostly, Tom."

"Home! We have none, Leonard; it is sold. How long have we been away
now?"

"Seven years."

"Seven years! Yes. Do you remember how we said good-bye to the old place
on that winter night after the auction? And do you remember what we
resolved?"

"Yes."

"Repeat it."

"We swore that we would seek wealth enough to buy Outram back till we