themselves were killed, being fearfully gored by the savage brutes.

I was very anxious to set off to bring back Natty; and in the afternoon
Stanley pronounced the horses fit to proceed. Mr Donald Fraser
proposed accompanying us; but when Stanley promised to try and induce
some of the blacks to come south and trade with him, he abandoned his
intentions, hoping to do a stroke of business in the meantime with any
natives who might come to the camp. Timbo therefore took the third
horse, and I mounted the one he would have ridden. They were all three
fine strong animals, fleet and active; and we hoped on their backs to
bid defiance to any human beings or wild beasts we might encounter.
Stanley did not fail to urge on those who remained behind the importance
of keeping bright fires burning round the camp at night, and being ever
on the watch, lest the wild beasts we had encountered might be tempted
to swim across the stream and attack either them or the oxen.

"Do you, my dear brother, be careful of yourself," said Kate, as she
wished us good-bye. "You seem to forget that though you have attacked
so many of them successfully, some day they may turn round and treat you
in the same way."

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

EXPEDITION TO RECOVER NATTY.

Though, after the wild life I had been so long living, I would gladly
have remained behind in the society of my young cousins, I was so
anxious to learn how Natty was going on that I felt very glad when I
found myself in the saddle, with saddle-bags well stored with
rhinoceros' meat and other eatables, and my rifle by my side. We had
tethers for our horses, hooks for cutting grass for them, and axes for
supplying ourselves with firewood to keep up blazing fires at night.

As we rode along, Stanley gave me fuller details of the attack which had
been made on our village, and which had resulted in the party being
compelled to quit it and seek safety at Kabomba. Soon after we had left
our home on our unfortunate expedition, Timbo had set off to Kabomba, in
the hope, as he said, of telling the natives about the Bible, showing
them how much superior is the white man's religion to their foolish
idolatry. They had listened more readily than he had expected; and his
great wish now was to return there at some future day with missionaries,
who might teach them to read about the matter themselves. He had just
got back, when one morning Jack Handspike, who was on guard, observed a
body