round a corner."

"He has come upon the natives at last, doctor," I said softly. "What
shall we do?"

"Retreat if they are enemies; go up to them if they are friendly," said
the doctor; "only we can't tell which, my lad. Ours is a plunge in the
dark, and we must risk it, or I do not see how we are to get on with our
quest."

"Shall we put on a brave face and seem as if we trusted them then?" I
said.

"But suppose they're fierce cannibals," whispered Jack Penny, "or as
savage as those fellows down by the river? Ain't it rather risky?"

"No more risky than the whole of our trip, Penny," said the doctor
gravely. "Are you afraid?"

"Well, I don't know," drawled Jack softly. "I don't think I am, but I
ain't sure. But I sha'n't run away. Oh, no, I sha'n't run away."

"Come along then," said the doctor. "Shoulder your rifle carelessly,
and let's put a bold front upon our advance. They may be friendly.
Now, Jimmy, lead the way."

The black's eyes glittered as he ran to the front, stooping down almost
as low as if he were some animal creeping through the bush, and taking
advantage of every shrub and rock for concealment.

He went on, with Gyp close at his heels, evidently as much interested as
his leader, while we followed, walking erect and making no effort to
conceal our movements.

We went on like this for quite a quarter of a mile, and the doctor had
twice whispered to me that he believed it was a false alarm, in spite of
Jimmy's cautionary movements, and we were about to shout to him to come
back, when all at once he stopped short behind a rugged place that stood
out of the mountain slope, and waved his waddy to us to come on.

"He has come upon them," I said, with my heart beating faster and a
curious sensation of sluggishness attacking my legs.

"Yes, he has found something," said the doctor; and as I glanced round I
could see that Jack Penny had my complaint in his legs a little worse
than I. But no sooner did he see that I was looking at him than he
snatched himself together, and we went on boldly, feeling a good deal
encouraged from the simple fact that Gyp came back to meet us wagging
his tail.

As we reached the spot where Jimmy was watching, he drew back to allow
us to peer round the block of stone, saying softly:

"Dat's um. Black fellow just gone long."

To our surprise there were no natives in the hollow into which we
peered, but just beyond a few stunted bushes I could see smoke a