ook here, Dean, we will start from
where we saw them disappear amongst the bushes. Shall we take our
guns?"

"I would, gentlemen," said Buck. "You see, you never know what you are
coming against."

"No; but they are a bother to carry."

"Oh, we will carry them, sir--sling 'em."

"There, we needn't all go. Run and fetch what we want, you two, and we
had better take a canteen or two of water and something to eat, in case
we lose ourselves. But no, we had better all go together, Dean, and rig
up, or we shall be sure to find we have left something behind that we
ought to have taken."

"Especially matches," said Dean.

They were about half way to the opening in front of their shed, known
generally as the camp, when Dean suddenly uttered an ejaculation.

"What is it?" cried his cousin.

"The blacks."

"Ah! Where are father and the doctor?" cried Mark excitedly. "And we
are wandering about here without arms."

"I did not mean the savage blacks," cried Dean.

"Why, you don't mean--"

"Yes, I do. Hooray! There they are, along with Dunn and the ponies--an
old croaker, to make believe that they might never come back!"

Just then Dunn pointed in their direction, and the two blacks turned and
caught sight of them, to begin marching slowly forward, Mak shouldering
his spear and stepping out with quite a military stride, while the pigmy
strutted along with an assumption of braggart conceit that was amusing
in the extreme.

"Well," cried Mark, as they met, "what luck? You haven't found the
rifle?"

"Yes. Find 'em."

"Where?"

"Stolen. Nigger."

"But where was it?" cried the boys together.

Mak pointed to the pigmy, who nodded and laughed, and by degrees the
little party managed to elicit from their two scouts that ever since
they started they had been in hiding near the ruins, waiting and
watching in the belief that sooner or later whoever had stolen the rifle
would come again for further plunder.

"But you have been away for days," said Dean. "Have you been hunting
too, so as to get something to eat?"

This was rather a long speech for Mak, to whom it was addressed, to
fully comprehend, but when it had been repeated to him simplified as far
as possible by Mark and the two men, the black nodded cheerfully and
explained that he had waited every night till they were quite fast
asleep, and then the pigmy had crept up like a dog or a baboon to help
himself to what they wanted, and then stolen away