much after the fashion of those we
had before constructed. I was so placed as to be in the shade, and at
the same time to obtain as much air as possible. I heard the voices of
Leo and Natty at a little distance. They were engaged in some work, I
concluded, and were laughing and talking merrily. I tried to speak, and
I must have uttered a sound, for instantly Bella sprang up, and, casting
her bright eyes on me, ran to her sister. "Oh, he is awake, and looks
as if he knew me!" she exclaimed. Kate cautiously approached, and I saw
her looking down upon me with an eye of pity and interest.

"Are you better, Andrew?" she whispered.

"Yes, thank you," I could just utter in a low voice, "much better." I
wanted to say more, but could not.

"Leo! Leo!" she cried out, "call David! he will be so glad to hear that
Andrew has returned to consciousness."

I could just catch sight of the boys running past the hut.

"Where are we? what has happened?" I asked.

"Oh, that would take too long to tell you," answered Kate. "You have
been very ill for several weeks, and we have all been mercifully
preserved from many dangers. You shall know all about it by-and-by. We
are safe now, I hope, and Stanley has sent for assistance; but I must
not talk more now."

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

OUR NEW HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS.

Thanks to David's skill, and the preservation of the medicine-chest,
under God's providence, I gradually recovered my strength. Several days
passed, however, after the one I have mentioned when I returned to
consciousness, before I could converse, or David would allow me to
listen to a narrative of the events which had occurred since I was taken
ill. My friends were employed in building huts and a stockade on a high
hill which they had selected as a location to remain at till means of
proceeding to the south could be procured. It was some hundred miles to
the north of Walfish Bay, the nearest point where Europeans were
located.

The first day I could sit up (I remember it well), Kate was by my side.
A fresh breeze blew in at the open door of our hut, cooling my fevered
brow. How beautiful all nature looked. We could gaze over a wide
expanse of country, with blue hills on the left, and thick forests
gradually breaking into scattered clumps of trees, and an open prairie
reaching to the horizon towards the south. Below us I saw an extensive
lake with a river flowing into it.

"There," said Kate, "is the strea