thro bestowed upon them.

"You have held on most bravely," he said; "for I could see you were
terribly fatigued. I am afraid you will find it very hard work just at
first, but after that it will be more easy to you. To-morrow's journey
is a shorter one."

It was well that it was so, for the girls were limping even at the
start, and needed the assistance of Jethro and the boys to reach the
next halting-place; and as soon as the tent, which was separated into
two parts by hangings, was erected, they dropped upon their cushions,
feeling that they could never get through another day's suffering like
that they had just passed.

Jethro saw that this was so, and told their escort that he must halt
next day, for that his young sons had been so long in the boat that
the fatigue had quite overcome them; he accompanied the intimation
with a present to each of the four men.

They offered no objections, while the porters, who were paid by the
day, were well contented with the halt.

The day's rest greatly benefited the girls, but it was not long enough
to be of any utility to their feet; these, however, they wrapped in
bandages, and started in good spirits when the porters took up the
loads. They were now following the course of what in wet weather was a
stream in the mountains. Sometimes the hills on either side receded a
little; at others they rose almost perpendicularly on either side of
the stream, and they had to pick their way among great bowlders and
rocks. This sort of walking, however, tired the girls less than
progressing along a level. Their feet were painful, but the soft
bandages in which they were enveloped hurt them far less than the
sandals in which they had at first walked, and they arrived at the
halting-place in much better condition than on the previous occasions.

"The worst is over now," Jethro said to them encouragingly. "You will
find each day's work come easier to you. You have stood it far better
than I expected; and I feel more hopeful now that we shall reach the
end of our journey in safety than I have done since the evening when I
first agreed to take you with us."

While passing through some of the ravines the party had been greatly
amused by the antics of troops of apes. Sometimes these sat tranquilly
on the hillside, the elder gravely surveying the little caravan, the
younger frisking about perfectly unconcerned. Sometimes they would
accompany them for a considerable distance, making their way