f the birds and on
numerous occasions seemed to be addressing the winged denizens of
the forest.

One incident made a marked impression on her. The man who immediately
preceded her was a fellow of powerful build, yet, when a brilliantly
colored parrot swooped downward toward him, he dropped upon his knees
and covering his face with his arms bent forward until his head
touched the ground. Some of the others looked at him and laughed
nervously. Presently the man glanced upward and seeing that the
bird had gone, rose to his feet and continued along the trail.

It was at this brief halt that Smith-Oldwick was brought to her
side by the men who had been supporting him. He had been rather
badly mauled by one of the lions; but was now able to walk alone,
though he was extremely weak from shock and loss of blood.

"Pretty mess, what?" he remarked with a wry smile, indicating his
bloody and disheveled state.

"It is terrible," said the girl. "I hope you are not suffering."

"Not as much as I should have expected," he replied, "but I feel
as weak as a fool. What sort of creatures are these beggars, anyway?"

"I don't know," she replied, "there is something terribly uncanny
about their appearance."

The man regarded one of their captors closely for a moment and
then, turning to the girl asked, "Did you ever visit a madhouse?"

She looked up at him in quick understanding and with a horrified
expression in her eyes. "That's it!" she cried.

"They have all the earmarks," he said. "Whites of the eyes showing
all around the irises, hair growing stiffly erect from the scalp
and low down upon the forehead--even their mannerisms and their
carriage are those of maniacs."

The girl shuddered.

"Another thing about them," continued the Englishman, "that doesn't
appear normal is that they are afraid of parrots and utterly fearless
of lions."

"Yes," said the girl; "and did you notice that the birds seem utterly
fearless of them--really seem to hold them in contempt? Have you
any idea what language they speak?"

"No," said the man, "I have been trying to figure that out. It's not
like any of the few native dialects of which I have any knowledge."

"It doesn't sound at all like the native language," said the girl,
"but there is something familiar about it. You know, every now and
then I feel that I am just on the verge of understanding what they
are saying, or at least that somewhere I have heard their tongue
before, but fin